Monster
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: The Cagemaster was always on top, though, and whatever the Cagemaster ordered, it would be obeyed without question. It's been 11 months since the Subspace Emissary ended...and since the reign of the Cagemaster began. Officially complete.
1. Stop the Whole World

Monster

**Author note: I do not own Super Smash Bros.**

**Hello, everyone! Finally, I get to writing a Super Smash bros fic... This idea was actually running about in my head for a while, but it took me at least three drafts to get something good out of it. This fic was inspired by the song 'Monster' by Paramore, so I don't own that. This was also somewhat inspired by a book called 'Blood Red Road' by Moira Young, so I don't own that either.**

**Warning: Violence. Blood and gore, though not graphically mentioned. There are OCs in the fic, and yes I own them (in fact, they are the main villains of the fic). Pairings? Maybe...if I do have any, there will be possible yaoi and yuri to warn you guys. Some swearing, although it's mostly just mentioned, not actually said. **

**Constructive criticism will be appreciated. Please read and review!**

1. Stop the Whole World

_Everyone should have been in peace when Tabuu was destroyed._

_Everyone should have been happy._

_Everyone should have been reunited, ready to face the world._

_The Cagemaster **stole** their chance of that._

_The Cagemaster **stopped the whole world**, and **twisted it into a mad game** before restarting it._

_The Tournaments were no longer for fun and games. They were a matter of life and death. __**Three**__ losses for the _**C rank**_, __**five**__ losses for the _**B rank**_, and __**ten**__ losses for the _**A rank**_, and you were out...as in...__**Eliminated...for good.**_

_Then there were __**Arcane. **_**One loss**_ and they were out. But that was impossible for those, because they were the elite of the bunch._

_The Cagemaster was always on top, though, and whatever the Cagemaster ordered, it would be obeyed without question. _

_It's been 11 months since the Subspace Emissary ended...and since the reign of the Cagemaster began._

* * *

The crowd cheered.

However, the cheers weren't of happiness.

They were of malice.

_**"TEAR HIM UP! KILL HIM! TEAR HIM UP! KILL HIM!"**_

The aura Pokémon didn't know whether to give the signal and let the Alloy referees throw DK into the crowd, or to just simply break the ape's neck and get it over with.

Lucario didn't want to kill. He didn't wish to kill. On the other hand, rules were rules, and he had to decide.

_"Referee." _A green Alloy saw Lucario's silent nod. It signaled to the other Alloys to grab DK. The ape howled as it clung to the floor, tried to grab the wire fence that separated the arena from the audience, but it was all in vain.

Lucario couldn't watch as DK tried to run from the hands of the audience.

He couldn't watch when they grabbed the ape by it's limbs.

Moreover, he certainly could not watch when the crowd let out a roar as limbs split apart and shrill screams rose.

The Pokémon exited the arena, to see Mewtwo clapping for him. _"What's with the long face, Lucario? You won." _The psychic Pokémon asked.

_"I know I did, Mewtwo..." _the aura Pokémon sighed as the two started to walk down the hallway. _"I only wish that the fight didn't end with limbs pulled apart and screams of killing."_

DK...one of the C Rank fighters. It was too bad for the poor ape that it was his third and final loss he could take before being executed.

Lucario was one of the B Rank fighters himself, as well as Mewtwo. Neither one of them had lost a match in...months. They didn't want to lose, especially because each loss would lead further towards an early death.

_"We have no choice with that...none of us do." _Mewtwo responded.

"Mewtwo? Lucario?" the two turned to see Zelda walk over to them. "Have you seen Pit? I need to talk to him about something important."

_"I believe he was summoned by the Cagemaster earlier to discuss about his rank...or at least that's what Pit told me." _Mewtwo answered. _"Which obviously means I don't know where he could be..."_

* * *

"M-my rank?" Pit asked, nervous. "W-what about it, Cagemaster?" The poor angel soldier stood in the office only a few spaces from the Cagemaster; a spacious, dimly lit hall with glimmering, colourful stained glass windows of every fighter in the arena, contrasting with the blackened walls of the room. DK's light behind the window went out suddenly, and that meant that the ape was dead.

_**"I wish to promote you to the A Rank." **_The Cagemaster's voice was deep, full of some sort of tender tone as it talked. Pit had no idea if the Cagemaster was a he or she...nor did he know why the Cagemaster didn't seem as...stern as usual. _**"You would have superiority over the B and C Ranks, and anyone who goes up to A Rank would have their records cleaned of no losses in the beginning. This also means you have more chances to live, Pit Icarus...much more." **_The Cagemaster paused before asking, _**"Why wouldn't you want to accept this?"**_

"Cagemaster, I..." Pit hesitated, biting his lip anxiously before taking a deep breath, "I am honored that you would do this for me...but why?"

_**"...Well..."**_

It was only then that one of the Arcane ran into the room; a man with tan skin and ashen-red and light brown hair tied back. He wore a simple black shirt and pants. Pit recognized the man as the Strength in the Arcane. The man paused before speaking quickly, his deep voice resounding.

"Cagemaster, we have a situation. Two of the C-ranked fighters, Diddy Kong and Fox, attempted an assault upon the Hierophant just after Donkey Kong's death. Diddy Kong is in critical condition and Fox has broken a left leg. The Hierophant is unscathed, save for a scratch on his face. I believe the Magician is tending to the injuries right now."

The Cagemaster tilted his/her head to the side before speaking roughly,

_**"Kill Diddy Kong, torture the fool to death. And give Fox a warning to not do this again, or else the punishment will be even worse for him...much worse."**_

"Yes, Cagemaster." With that, Strength left the room.

_**"Now...where was I?" **_Cagemaster seemed to pause before speaking again, in that tender tone from before. _**"Ah, yes...Pit. I see so much potential in you. The gift of flight is not an easy one to handle, and...I see your determination to succeed. But what prevents your way to a possible future placement in the Arcane is your hesitation. All you need to do is continue your fighting. Don't hold back. You must never hold back. Do you understand?"**_

Pit nodded quickly. "Yes, Cagemaster..."

He shivered with fear as ashen-grey shadows forming an arm stroked his cheek before fading away.

_**"Good. You may go now."**_

Shrill screams resounded as the light in Diddy Kong's stained glass window went out.


	2. Ranks

2. Ranks

Samus stared around the library.

There were no fights for her today, and she needed to get her mind to calm down from all the chaotic matches she had watched with her own eyes. From Donkey Kong's death to the torture of Diddy Kong, it was getting on her nerves.

She slowly let her hand skim over the book spines as she walked parallel to a nearby shelf. She then noticed one in particular that seemed interesting, and reached out to grab it.

She then realized that there was another that was reaching for the same book, and the two paused mid-reach to look at each other.

"Ah...Miss Samus." The Magician pulled his hand away, gesturing to her to remove the book from the shelf. She did so, pulling the book into her arms before looking up at him, his light blue irises staring into her similar-coloured ones. He smiled a little, brushing a lock of pale blond hair out of his face. "Supernatural? Never expected you to be the type to read such a genre."

"Nor did I expect you to read such writing." Samus responded. She flipped open the book as the Magician read aloud.

"A thousand stars, a thousand suns, all of which whirl about the worlds. But there is only one moon that they all revolve about ever so slowly within the depths of time." He paused for a moment. "I never thought the Cagemaster...loved writing so much, to the point of writing so many books. I've read this one several times."

The Magician was probably the kindest out of all of the Arcane, as seemingly innocent as a dove as he would fix injuries in the hospital wing and have lengthy conversations with anyone he could talk with. He would try his best to crack a joke, and try to laugh at the terribly horrible puns some fighters would make. She would often see him either speaking with someone or simply sitting at a windowsill, reading a novel or writing in a notebook It was only in battle that he seemed so...destructive. Samus couldn't help but think he was a complete opposite of her; being so shy and kind and gentle. It only seemed to be that in battle that they were alike.

Samus looked down at his attire. "What happened to your regular clothing?"

"Ah...um..." the Magician blushed with embarrassment. "Forgive me. It appeared that my masculine attire is all in the wash, and I couldn't find anything else that seemed to fit except for my dressing gown. I apologize for my appearance." He twirled another lock of his hair a little bit before pulling his hand away and looking down at the ground briefly. The Magician usually wore clothing of white, and Samus had seen him in all sorts of variations of sweater vests, t-shirts, shorts, pants...never a _dressing gown_ or anything _feminine_ of the sort. It made him look _more_ feminine, and she bet that he probably looked even more _attractive_ to...

"**Rather intimate, isn't it**?"

The Magician pushed Samus a few steps away by the shoulder as they turned to face the Hierophant, a small smirk on his face. The Hierophant let a hand slide through his own dark brown, almost shoulder length hair, looking at the two with sly gold-brown eyes.

"Look," Samus started with a growl, "Whatever twisted scene you think you saw, you bastard-"

"Whatever twisted scene I _thought_ I saw? My eyes do not deceive me." The Hierophant responded before his eyes flickered in the Magician's direction. "I never thought you were the type to...play hard to get with the ladies, with implied flirtatious comments and that polite behaviour of yours."

The Magician seemed to shudder slightly as the Hierophant took a few steps towards him. He bit his lip for a moment, before looking at the Hierophant in the eyes.

"I was not flirting, Hierophant. Quit your teasing." He spoke with a monotone voice.

The Hierophant paused before suddenly twirling the Magician into his arms, his back pressed against the Hierophant's chest with his arm wrapped about his waist. "Tease...teasing? Hmm? Perhaps I had a misconception, forgive me, darling Magician..." the Hierophant paused before whispering, "I think you're more of the _tease_ than I am, anyway. _You're_ the one playing _hard to get_, even though you're _mine_, and you _know it_." The Magician let out a small shriek, dropping the book and squirming a bit in the Hierophant's grasp as the other's smirk just widened slightly, but Samus noticed it.

She honestly didn't know what to do. She always knew of the Hierophant's advances towards the Magician, of the seemingly intimate relationship the two shared... The Magician both feared and desired the love from the Hierophant, and the same went for the Hierophant, though it was rather more of a desire of love from the Magician. She never understood how someone so innocent like the Magician could get along so easily with the Hierophant, who had a more dominant, controlling nature and reflected his hate towards the lower ranks. Samus had a feeling, though, that something should be done about the current situation.

She punched the Hierophant in the face.

The Hierophant let go of the Magician before punching her with such force that she fell to the ground, and she felt his foot against her face.

"_**Filthy** lower ranks_." She heard him growl. "**Must** they meddle with such private interaction?"

"Hierophant..." the Magician was heard sighing quietly. "Just let her go. She didn't understand...and besides, you have a match in a couple minutes. I don't like it when you take out your anger on people outside the matches, you know."

"Fine." The Hierophant muttered, leaving the room. "I'll just go ahead and kill Bowser, then...slowly and full of torture, just like Strength did to Diddy Kong earlier today."

The Magician helped Samus up. "I'm sorry." He whispered quietly. "I really need to work on defending myself at times like this."

Samus sighed. "Really, Magician...I don't understand how you ever got into your current relationship with the Hierophant. He always seems to be controlling you in some way."

The Magician hesitated before speaking, in a tone that was quieter. "Samus, other than the Cagemaster, the Hierophant was the one who saved me from real death. Had it not been for either of them, I would not have existed before your very eyes. The Hierophant was the one who nursed me to proper health and showed me the rules were in the tournament, and...The two of us fell for each other eventually. It's very complicated to explain, but then again, Death says that love is a complicated thing at times."

Death. Samus could certainly think of that fighter right now. Death was always rambling on and on about love and such that it got tiring for most fighters that heard her speaking. However, that didn't matter right now.

"We should probably get some rest for tomorrow." The Hierophant paused as he turned to leave. "Goodnight, Samus."

"Goodnight." Samus replied quietly, watching him leave. She looked down at the book on the ground, picked it up, and put it back on the shelf before leaving the library as well.

* * *

He stared down at his clean hands just after knocking on the door. Only minutes ago, he had killed one of the fighters, Diddy Kong. Strangled, beat, and knifed the small monkey to death, that's what he did. There had been so much blood splattered about in the hospital wing...

Strength hoped he didn't dream of that tonight. That would just be terrible for his sleep, and the death cries of the little fighter already disturbed him.

The door creaked open slowly, and he stepped inside.

There, sitting at a small table and sipping tea, was a little girl with raven black hair, pale cream irises, and wearing white pajamas. She turned after putting her cup of tea down, facing him.

"Oh, there you are, Strength. Pleasant to see you again." She greeted him with a small smile. She gestured to him to take a seat, and he walked over and sat down opposite to her. "I haven't heard about you much today, since you didn't have any fights, but I heard three fighters were killed today. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Bowser. Donkey Kong lost to Lucario and was ripped apart by the crowd in response. Bowser was brutally beaten to death by the Hierophant; they say his body was ripped inside out. Diddy Kong and Fox apparently attacked the Hierophant and Diddy was killed later afterwards. Who killed Diddy?"

Strength hesitated before speaking. "Death, I killed Diddy. Cagemaster's orders. I swear; his screams still haunt me as of now."

"Of course." She poured him a cup of tea. "He deserved it. That's what you get for attempting to assault the Arcane, right?" she paused before speaking again. "I didn't do much today. Watched the matches, sure, but I haven't really talked with anyone except for you right now, but before you, no one except an attempt to talk with the Hero of Twilight. Link is as silent as always towards me. Really, you think with him being a lower rank and all, he would at least say hello. Then again, the Cagemaster did tell me that the fighters here can be merciless towards one another... I guess his coldness and the attack on the Hierophant today are examples of that."

Strength always wondered how such an innocent little girl like her could end up talking so much about mercilessness and death. He never bothered to ask about her past, though. It would be rude, unless she brought it up herself in the first place. Then again...he wasn't sure if he wanted to know any of the Arcane's backstories, especially Death's own.

They might be just as terrible as his own. Or worse.


	3. Hierophant versus Hero

**Author note: Just thought I'd put a little quick note here before you people read the chapter. **

**To the guest reviewer person who was the first to review chapter 2: Yes, I suppose I have a slight interest in tarot (mainly because I thought the titles of some of the cards were cool). The elite rank of the fighters is the Arcane, and the titles for the fighters in that rank are totally based off the Major Arcana of the tarot cards, mainly because I thought it would be interesting to put in. Each of the fighters in the Arcane rank have a special backstory, too, and I plan to have the first one up after chapter 4 or 5, so stay tuned for that.**

**Now, onto the next chapter, shall we?**

* * *

3. Hierophant versus Hero

A quiet tap at a window woke Link from his slumber. The Hero of Twilight sighed softly, sitting up in bed and pushing his messy hair out of his face to see a little white dove outside, sunlight streaming through the glass frame. He slowly made his way over to the window and opened it. Almost instantly, the dove let out a soft chirp and started to soar about the room. He let out a little laugh and the dove landed on his shoulder.

Link smiled. "Morning, Lumos. You just made my day."

Lumos was the dove that Link had found about a couple months ago during the tournament. Link was glad that he did. Lumos had become a bit of a friend to him, and it definitely didn't attack him, so that was good. Sure, he couldn't understand the language of birds, but it was nice to vent to someone or something occasionally about the tournament, the fights, the other Smashers...and especially the Arcane.

He didn't trust the Arcane. He had seen them in battle before, watching from the sidelines. He'd even seen Strength kill Diddy Kong the previous night, blood staining the walls, floor and bedsheets in the hospital wing. He wasn't interesting in talking with any of them, and he would avoid a conversation when possible. Why should he bother to trust any of them if they're all out to kill him and the remaining Smashers?

"Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Bowser died last night, Lumos." Link spoke quietly. "The Arcane killed two of them. Speaking of which...I think I have a match against one of them today. It sucks." he sighed quietly as the bird chirped again and flew back to the windowsil. "You have to go already? Okay...hope I can see you again soon."

The bird flew away just as there was a knock at the door. Link scrambled to the door and opened it to see Falco, out of breath.

"Link..." Falco gasped. "They put up the list of fights. You're going up first thing at 9:00 this morning..."

Link's eyes widened with surprise. "Who...who's against me?" he asked. "I know it's one of the Arcane, but..."

"It's the Hierophant." Falco interrupted. "And I can tell you, he's definitely plotting something; I just know from the look on his face when he saw the list. You better be careful..."

Link nodded, taking a deep breath. "I will."

* * *

The crowd roared as the two fighters entered the ring. Link noticed that the Hierophant had a small smile on his face, but he knew there was malice in the man's golden-brown eyes. Clothing? Of course, the Hierophant was wearing his usual flowing robes of red and black, with black shirt and pants underneath. Weapons? The Hierophant surprisingly was unarmed, which wasn't like him. Usually, he would be carrying at the very least a knife or something sharp.

"GAME START!"

Link immediately rushed forward, taking out his Master Sword and swinging it towards the man's chest. The Hierophant sidestepped quickly before roughly grabbing the Hero by the left arm and throwing him against the metal fence. Link growled, got up and jabbed at the Hierophant, who continued to sidestep-until Link got close enough to punch him in the face.

The Hierophant let out a yell of pain before grabbing Link by the throat and pulling him closer. Link struggled to get out of the cold grip, but the efforts were in vain.

"Boy...I _swear_ that in this very match..." the Hierophant smiled cruelly. "You. Will. Suffer...Terribly." he hissed before throwing the Hero of Twilight against the fence again.

Link landed on the ground with a thud. He slowly got up, before charging at the Hierophant, his sword pointed towards him. Letting out a yell, the sword pierced flesh. The Hierophant's eyes seemed to widen in shock as he looked down at the blade piercing his torso. He took a few steps backwards, allowing the blade to slide out of the flesh. Blood poured out from the wound, and the Hierophant suddenly doubled over, one hand pressed against the fresh injury while the other was against his mouth, his face going pale.

Link stepped back as well. Was the Hierophant sick?

Everyone was silent for a moment as the Hierophant coughed slightly and gasped for air, his body wavering.

It was only after the silence that he suddenly stumbled forward and grabbed Link by the shoulders with both hands; yellowish-brown liquid dribbling out of his mouth. Some of the crowd screamed with surprise and let out an 'ugh' of disgust. Link couldn't move, completely shocked. What had he done?

It was only then that the Hierophant looked up at the Hero's eyes with a smile, the remnants of vomit and specks of blood dripping down his chin and onto his robes and Link's tunic. His eyes didn't have just malice in them anymore, it was full of enjoyment, too.

It was enough to make Link **shiver**.

The Hierophant took a deep breath before speaking quietly so that only Link could hear him. "_Sorry_...about ruining the floor like that. And your clothes. Didn't mean to do that." he smirked a little bit. "That look on your face is hilarious. Entertaining. Something I love to see from anyone. But I thought you would be _satisfied_ with what you did to me."

"What?" Link hoarsely whispered, wanting to ask more, but the words were stuck in his throat as the Hierophant continued.

"Don't you want to see the blood pouring from my wounds? Don't you wish to feel the scarlet life-giving liquid all over your hands? Of course you do. Because..." The Hierophant touched Link's face with a bloodstained hand, covered with his blood. The Hierophant's own blood. "You're just as merciless as everyone else here, Link, and you keep forgetting that. Everyone is merciless. **_Everyone_**..." he slid his hand off Link's face, before punching the Hero in the face.

Link fell on his rear, not expecting the blow, and he got up quickly, brandishing his sword and ready to strike again when-

The Hierophant kicked Link in the stomach(which caused Link to drop his Master Sword) , punching him again in the face and picking him up by the tunic collar. The Hierophant smirked.

_"It was a pleasure to fight you, boy. I win."_

And with that, Link was thrown against the metal fence again and the Hero of Twilight's world went black.

* * *

The Hierophant grinned as the crowd cheered. Another glorious victory for him...

He stumbled backwards, expecting to hit the ground. Before he could, he felt a strong pair of arms catch him quickly. He looked up to see the Magician looking at him with a somewhat blank face, but he knew just by looking at the blond man's eyes that he enjoyed watching the match as well as feeling some sort of fear. The Hierophant smiled at him weakly.

"Ah...thank you."

And then his world went black as well.

* * *

_"Link...Link...LINK!"_

Link woke up to his body wracking with pain. He twitched slightly, and then realized he was staring up at Mewtwo and Zelda.

_"Calm down, Link...it's alright. You're still alive." _Mewtwo spoke. _"You lost your match against the Hierophant...you now have three more chances to live. I believe Peach is going up against Death next, as far as I remember."_

"Are you alright?" Zelda asked, concerned. Link did his best to nod. He figured it wasn't a good idea to try speaking; his throat hurt from when the Hierophant had grabbed him during the match. Zelda smiled a little. "I'm glad...I'm just...glad that you're still alive, Link..." she slowly reached down and gripped one of his hands lightly. "I hope you recover soon."

Link just nodded quietly, closing his eyes so he could rest.

_I will._

* * *

"Hierophant...you need to be more careful, I was worried you were going to die."

The Hierophant sighed quietly as the Magician helped him sit up in the hospital bed. "I don't get it, Magician...I've never thrown up in a match before."

"Well, you probably ate too much at breakfast then; you were eating at a speed that could almost surpass Kirby."

"...I suppose you have a point. I probably shouldn't do that again." The Hierophant paused, leaning against the pillows that kept him upright. Before he could speak again, however, there was a small knock on the door before it opened. In walked Kirby, accompanied by a tall woman with dark red, shoulder length hair. Her robes were an orangey-red, with shades of yellow at the hem. Her dark brown eyes gazed at the other two Arcane-rank fighters quietly. "Sun. Where were you this morning?"

"I was taking a walk with Kirby in the courtyard." the Sun answered, the two sitting down on nearby chairs. "I heard that you won your match against Link and threw up all over the Hero of Twilight as well."

"That...is true." The Hierophant looked down at Kirby. "How was hanging out with the little fighter?"

"Poyo, poyo, poyo!" Kirby spoke excitedly, waving his stubby arms in the air.

"He means that we saw lots of flowers in bloom and everything." Sun explained.

She would always take Kirby outside in the courtyard for a walk every day after breakfast. She didn't like seeing the little puffball watch the matches, he was only a kid of some sort, and Kirby had no idea about death or how terrible the fights could get. He thought it was just like the old Smash tournaments, when everyone was all friends and sure, maybe the Smashers would fight, but everything would be alright. Unfortunately, this tournament was obviously much more twisted than the Star Warrior realized.

"Personally ,I enjoyed having a conversation with him again. This little guy-" she patted Kirby on the head before she finished, "Is the one who brightens up my day."

"I think the match between Death and Peach is starting." the Magician spoke, pointing at the television across from them. "You guys want to watch?"

"Poyo, poyo!" Kirby shouted, a smile on his face as he jumped up and down several times before sitting back down in his chair.

"I think he wants to watch." the Sun grimaced a little bit at Kirby's excited facial expression. "Let's just hope nothing horrendous happens..."

* * *

**Author note: ...Okay, I was seriously hoping for the fight scene between Link and Hierophant to be better. Guys, a LOT (and I mean a lot) of constructive criticism would be really nice, especially when I have to write fighting scenes (because, I seriously admit, I'm terrible at them). Thanks.**


	4. Death versus the Toadstool Princess

4. Death versus the Toadstool Princess

Peach took a shaky breath. She was facing _Death, _one of the Arcane. She had only fought one of the Arcane before, specifically the Sun, and she had gotten away with her life, _barely, _just when that timed match had finished before the Sun could put down the final blow. The Toadstool Princess just hoped that she would still be alive. Surely a little girl might hold back on attacking her mercilessly?

_Oh, how wickedly wrong she was going to be._

* * *

Death wore different attire today than usual. That was the first thing Peach noticed. She wore a simple, sleeveless red dress, with black leggings and socks. Her black hair was tied back in a low ponytail, kind of like Strength, and in her hands she held two razor-sharp daggers. The weapons were not what unnerved Peach, however.

It was the completely **blank** look on Death's face that frightened the Toadstool Princess...

The two didn't make a sound as they circled each other. And then Death moved.

Before Peach realized it, her left arm had been slashed by the blades and the wounds were dripping with blood. Peach tried to take out her frying pan, but Death grabbed it and threw it out of the way, attempting to stab her face. Peach ducked, tripping in the process and falling to the ground.

Before she could get on her knees, she was lifted up wildly into the air by some unseen force. Death just stared at Peach silently, not saying anything for a moment.

"_Do you know what love is?_" Peach didn't know what to say in response, but Death continued, walking around her in circles. "Have you ever experienced it? No, I don't mean the love between _relatives_ or from your _friends_, I mean that romantic, **close** connection between husband or wife...or at least something close to that. I know I have loved someone...long ago, long before I joined this tournament. Did you?" She then stopped walking, giving a cold stare towards the princess' eyes. "Or were you like one of the fools that would play around with the emotion they call love, causing affairs and ruining the devoted love they had with another?" Death slashed her knives together several times to sharpen them, as she spoke, and at the same time, Peach was slammed against the fence, paralyzed. "I hate to admit it, but that pretty little face of yours reminds me exactly of the time that...that _monster_ took away the man I loved. I never got to kill her, so now I'm going to kill you...and it's _not_ going to be **painless**."

With that, Death stabbed into Peach's right arm and slowly cut downwards through the flesh, the princess trying her best not to let out a scream of horror. Blood flowed from the wounded flesh, dribbling onto the ground.

* * *

"**Don't look**. Cover your eyes, Kirby!"

Kirby didn't know what to do. The little puffball could only stare in horror, and the Sun grabbed his stubby arms and placed them over his face so he wouldn't see what was going to happen next.

The Hierophant paled as he and the other Arcane in the room continued to watch, as tears of pain trickled down the princess' face as Death continued to cut at the right arm, but Peach wasn't screaming yet. It was only when Death stabbed Peach's stomach that the princess let out a gasp, a feeble attempt to breathe.

* * *

"This is just wonderful..._amazing_..." Death's face took on a look of awe, a small smile gracing her face as if she had found the most beautiful butterfly hovering in a garden. She looked up at Peach the way a daughter would look up to her father, and all Peach could do was cringe as pain and blood washed over her body. Death slowly slid one of the blades across the princess' cheek, drawing more blood. "Your blood is so warm..."

"You...how would you know anything about love?" Peach suddenly snapped. "You're only a child! You don't know that much as you think you do!" she then coughed, blood dripping out of her mouth.

Death's face twisted into a snarl. _**"That's IT!" **_she screamed, stamping her foot. _**"No more playing games...I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU! How dare you say that, you monster!"**_

The Arcane fighter stabbed into Peach's stomach again, cutting into the flesh as if she was putting brushstrokes against a canvas. Peach let out a hoarse shriek, struggling against her invisible bonds, but the efforts were truly in vain.

Death smiled at the cut-open internal organs of the princess seeping blood, and pointed a bloody dagger at Peach's chest.

_**"I've had enough with you, princess. Fare thee well." **_

And with that, four slashes across the Toadstool Princess' chest splattered blood all over the floor, all over Death's clothing and hands and face, and all over the bloody princess.

Death wasn't finished yet. She slowly put a hand to the wound on the dead princess' face and then put her hand on her cheek, spreading the blood all over her face. Her sadistic smile widened, her eyes blood-shot.

_**"I never realized until now that there was a warmth like this...it's almost like...almost like...as if I've fallen in love again."**_

And almost suddenly, Death staggered back, her eyes completely clear, and she sat on the ground, dumbfounded as she looked at her bloodstained clothing and hands in shock.

"Death!" Death turned to see Strength run over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked her, his dark eyes full of concern.

"Strength?" Death looked at her bloody hands and the princess' carcass before looking at the other Arcane. "What did I do?"

* * *

Kirby uncovered his eyes just as Sun turned off the television. She didn't look happy. In fact, her face was completely full of revulsion.

"Poyo?" Kirby tugged on the Arcane's hand silently, looking at her with concern. Sun exhaled a breath, looking down at the puffball.

"I'll be okay, Kirby." Sun responded quietly, biting her lip anxiously. The two turned to the other people in the room. The Hierophant had put his head in his hands while the Magician had shut his eyes tightly, mumbling words of 'No, it can't be...Death wouldn't do anything like that...' and such. Sun grimaced at the sight of the two before turning to Kirby. "We should probably leave."

"Poyo?"

"Yes, they'll be okay. They're just shocked."

"Poyo poyo?"

"...Peach was defeated."

"Poy?"

"...I'm not so sure if you're ever going to see her again. I'm sorry..."

* * *

**_"Well done, child."_**

The Cagemaster patted Death on the shoulder lightly before embracing the Arcane for a moment. **_"You battled well. I was getting sick of the Toadstool Princess, anyway. I do not understand how one can use a frying pan as a weapon..."_ **The Cagemaster looked down at the girl. **_"Is there anything wrong? You don't look pleased."_**

"Well..." Death paused before sighing. "I don't get it...the stupid memories of him with...with that monster...why do they keep coming back?" She looked down at her now clean outfit and hands. It had taken only moments to wash the princess' blood off, but Death couldn't help but imagine the blood flowing all over. _Is this what Strength felt after he killed Diddy Kong?_

_**"You haven't vented in a while. If you must, go ahead and yell out your past at my face. I don't mind hearing it again. In fact, I don't remember much of what happened."**_

Death let out a cold laugh. "Considering you were the one that brought me to this tournament, I'm surprised you don't remember. Fine then. I'm telling my backstory to you, Cagemaster."


	5. History: Death

5. History: Death

She was a simple girl, who was completely innocent and full of happiness, despite having no biological family as she grew people of the village passed her along to several families, changing places where she lived every week. She was loved by the people around her. She would be the one to give others smiles and cheer them up on gloomy days. All was well.

* * *

There was a particular boy she liked. Kind, patient, and a wonderful storyteller was he. The two would write stories of dancing leaves and flowing rivers to the knight defending his beloved kingdom from the bad guys. They would read the stories to each other, too. She like hearing his smooth voice accentuating the dialogue and description ever so perfectly. She liked everything about him.

* * *

She wanted to profess her love to him, but she was a poor girl. She didn't really know how to profess her love, exactly.

Writing letters? She couldn't get herself to do so, spilling the ink too many times to count.

Telling him aloud? No...she figured it wouldn't work.

She planned to search for a white rose and give it to him. Roses were rare in the village, and they were symbols of love. Maybe just by showing it to him, he would understand...

* * *

The journey to find one was long and difficult. She had blistered feet, bruises, and cuts all over her body when she finally found one rose all alone in a leafy bush. The rose wasn't in full bloom, but it was white as the first snowfall, petals soft as velvet, and the stem was a light shade of emerald. She found it, and was going to present it to him.

* * *

She stumbled back into the village, tired and hungry, but she didn't care. She had to present the rose to the man she loved-

-And suddenly, she saw him. With another girl. And the two were kissing as the other villagers clapped and cheered for them.

The bride and groom turned. Saw her. And started to **_laugh._**

The whole village was laughing at her. All she could do was run.

* * *

She cried, tears streaming down her face as she held the rose in her hands and slowly crumpled it to pieces, the petals blown away by the wind.

Goodbye to the _happy ending_ she had desperately _hoped_ for.

Goodbye to the man she _loved_.

Goodbye to her _home_ and _everyone_ in it.

Hello to her first feelings of true _loneliness. _

Hello to _grief._

Hello to...

She turned at the sound of footsteps. She saw a figure, completely cloaked in black. She stammered slightly as she spoke.

"W-who are you?"

The figure paused before speaking, walking over to her.

**_"I am the Cagemaster, child..."_**the figure paused, glancing at the destroyed rose. **_"I see...you searched high and low to find the perfect gift for your loved one, but he has betrayed you, stabbed you in the back. Your tears are genuine, purely sorrow. Your devotion to him was a pure, true love. Shame on him for throwing it away. I do admire the feelings of a love so pure as this."_**

"Why are you here?"

_**"I am seeking a person perfect for the position of Death in my tournament, and I believe you will be perfect for that."**_

"Why?" the girl's face scrunched up slightly. "What does Death do anything about love, Cagemaster?"

_**"Some say,"**_the Cagemaster leaned forward to whisper in her ear. _**"Some say losing a loved one is much like dying. For any fighter that dies by your hand, you can hold them quietly, if you want, so they will be consoled, and maybe feel the same love you felt; that pure, devoted love. And if you have the need to bestow any wrath upon the fighters, to vent what you felt about being betrayed by the man you love, you can go right ahead and do so. The tournament can be a fight to the death, and the fighters are quite merciless, anyway. Does that give you any interest?"**_

The Cagemaster extended a shadowy hand towards the girl. The girl had only one word to say in acceptance before grabbing the hand quietly.

_"Yes."_

* * *

"You gave me a place to belong when I was betrayed, Cagemaster. I could never leave you." Death whispered quietly, the look on her face showing she was serious. "And I don't want to leave you."

The Cagemaster nodded quietly, glancing at the clock. **_"Perhaps you would like to continue this conversation later, after lunch? I hate to leave you like this, but I have some things to attend to first."_**

Death looked up at the Cagemaster, a small smile on her face. "Sure, Cagemaster. Thanks for letting me use you as an occasional venting post...and for letting me take on this position of Death. I don't regret joining. Not at all." And with that, Death skipped down the hallway, smiling happily.

* * *

**Author note: So, that's the first backstory, people! Death's backstory...hopefully it explained how this Arcane fighter got so twisted like in the previous chapter.**

**Okay, I need some help. Which backstory do you think I should do next? There's still Sun, Strength, Magician, and the Hierophant's backstories for me to write. I'm saving the Cagemaster's backstory for last, because you know what they say, 'the best should go last.' Tell me what you think in the reviews! Thanks! **

**P.S. The order of the backstories will somehow affect the flow of the story, so choose carefully and give a good reason WHY I should do so and so's backstory next. **


	6. Venting, Thinking

6. Venting, Thinking

Lucario stood in the lounge, silently, unsure of what to do. After witnessing Link's defeat and Peach's death this morning, he couldn't bear to watch any more matches for today. He hated to admit it, but he needed to vent...watching those earlier fights had shocked him. But to who?

He had to give himself a moment to think. He needed as much isolation as possible. He had to vent to someone in private.

First, though, he needed to clear his head. He figured he could go wash his face quickly with some water in the bathroom and then maybe talk with Marth or one of the other fighters that didn't have any matches today.

* * *

The aura pokemon immediately sensed that he wasn't the only one in the bathroom when he heard the sound of a shower running. Who in the world could be showering at this time of day? It was only 2:00 in the afternoon...

Lucario shrugged it off. Was it really important for him to know? No. He shouldn't be sticking his mind into anyone's business right now. He splashed some water on his face quickly, wiping it with a dry towel and tossing it into the laundry hamper. The Alloys took care of all the chores, from the laundry to cooking to being the referees for the matches. The lower-ranked fighters didn't have to take care of that, at least.

It was only when Lucario turned to leave that the shower curtain opened and the Magician was revealed, the damp mist of the water slowly fading as he stepped out, wiping his shoulders and neck with a towel. His long, blond hair was completely damp, some of the wet strands still dripping wet. His eyes then turned towards Lucario, and widened in shock as a light blush of rose pink came across his face.

"Oh, uh...um..." he stammered, covering his nude chest with the towel. Thankfully, he was clothed from the waist down, so the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed. He sighed and sat down on the ground, putting his head in one hand for a moment before looking up at Lucario. "Sorry. It's just, well..." he blushed a little redder. "No one has ever seen me, well, unclothed, before except for the Cagemaster and the rest of the male members of the Arcane. I...don't really like being seen like this..."

_"Understandable." _Lucario responded, sitting down beside him. _"But...why are you taking a shower at 2:00 in the afternoon?"_

"Lucario, I take at least two showers a day, at least since I joined the tournament. It's the only time I have to properly think and process the events of the day in my head...I never get any time to think unless I'm completely isolated, and the shower seems to be the only time I am. You could say it's one of my ways to vent without hurting anything or anyone. You?"

_"...I usually just go punch something inanimate or meditate, but I can't get myself to focus. I was going to talk with one of the other Smashers, but you don't mind if I talk with you, right?"_

The Magician shook his head. "I'm good. I don't have any matches until two days from now-" he then suddenly paused, his eyes widening slightly. "Shoot..."

_"What is it?"_

"...I'm going up against Link next of all people already! I've never battled him before...and...I need to tell him something important. Don't ask what it is, but it's really important, and...and...never mind." he sighed, looking downwards briefly. Lucario noted that the Magician's aura had flared up from its calmness to something more tense, nervous, maybe even terrified. There was definitely something wrong, but the Magician obviously didn't want to talk with Lucario in particular about it.

Lucario paused before changing the subject. _"I can't believe Death would...brutally kill Peach like that. I've never seen that happen before from her in the matches."_

"Yeah, I know..." The Magician paused before sighing. "I've seen her get upset at times, but not like this. Poor girl...she hasn't vented as often, so perhaps that's why she...she...you know." he paused again. "You've got no idea how innocent she was before she joined this tournament. I just hope she's okay."

There was silence between the two for a moment. Then, the aura pokemon spoke up.

_"I really hate to ask you this, because I thought maybe some people already asked, but..." _Lucario paused, making eye contact with the other. _"How do you put up with him? The Hierophant? How did you two...become together?"_

The Magician went pale, looking away from him. Then he tried to speak. "Well...it's...complicated...to...tell..." he bit his lip. Lucario then realized that the Magician really didn't want to talk about that, either...

**"I don't think he wants to talk about it. Not in front of you." **the two turned to see the Hierophant, who was leaning against the wall. The aura pokemon wondered how long he had been there, and when he came in. The brown-haired man walked over to the two and leaned closer, his eyes gazing at them. "Why is it?" he paused for a moment. "Why is it that you _lower-ranks_ must always poke your heads into what we Arcane do?" He spoke 'lower-ranks' with an air of disgust.

"H-Hierophant..." the Magician stammered, throwing a white shirt on before speaking again. "I...well..."

_"THAT'S IT!" _Lucario stood up and gave a cold glare at the Hierophant. He had enough of this behaviour now, and he was getting more confused. It was about time he got some answers. _"Why do YOU Arcane have such a hard time communicating with the 'lower-ranks?' Why are you so disgusted with us!? You know you can't go around giving that 'I'm better-than-thou' attitude towards us..."_

"You..." the Hierophant, seething with rage, grabbed Lucario by the throat and slammed him against the wall. "You have **no **idea how hard it is to communicate...the lower ranks will never understand what we have gone through before this cursed tournament! If it wasn't for the Cagemaster, some of us wouldn't even _BE _alive! All of you just don't understand..."

"Hierophant, stop it!" the Magician tried to pull the Hierophant back by the arm, but it only caused the two to trip and fall to the tiled ground. "Just...stop it...I..." The Hierophant and Lucario realized there were tears dripping down the Magician's face. "I can't bear this...all this fighting...I just...can't..." he broke into a quiet, quiet sob, and as if on instinct, the Hierophant wrapped his arms about the Magician gently, letting the blond cry into his chest, after the two sat in an upright position against the wall.

Lucario honestly didn't know what to do besides stare at the scene before him.

"I can't bear it. The fighting. I feel like a freaking _monster _every time I have to fight." the Magician muttered quietly, shaking his head silently and looking up at the Hierophant; after wiping his eyes with a handkerchief and sniffing away a few more tears. "And all this tension between the Arcane and the other fighters...it just...it just sucks. No matter how calm I try to be in these situations it just...hurts...and it reminds me of those times."

The Hierophant ran a hand through the Magician's long locks of hair silently, before gently kissing his forehead. "I'm sorry..." the Hierophant sighed. "You're not a monster, Magician. I'm much more of that than you are...You're not a monster. I am...or at least, I deserve to be called one. You don't." the Hierophant spoke quietly. "I'm...sorry..." he gently stroked a few locks of the other man's hair again before giving him a small kiss on the corner of his lips. "Forgive me." The two stood, quietly, before the Magician nodded to the Hierophant and left.

The Hierophant turned to Lucario, hesitating before speaking. "Magician...he hates this fighting. I've known this from since I first met him. I remember the time when he first killed one of the fighters during the tournament; I believe it was Dr. Mario he killed. He had nightmares and he would be screaming in his sleep, shouting that everyone was out to get him and they were going to kill him. And that's only the first of what he's gone through. I told you, Lucario...you and your 'Smasher' friends don't understand us Arcane. I'm not sure if you ever will."

* * *

"Samus...Aran?" Samus turned to see Strength knocking at the open door. "I don't believe we've spoken to each other before."

"No, we haven't." Samus responded. It was true. She had never had a conversation with Strength of the Arcane, the Magician and the Sun several times, yes, but never Strength. "You can come in, you know."

"Thanks." the red and brown-haired man strode into the lounge and made himself comfortable on one of the armchairs. "The Magician told me all about you, the bounty huntress. I didn't know you liked reading books."

"It's only in my spare time. Either that, or I'm thinking." she replied, the two making eye contact. "What else did the Magician tell you about me?"

"He told me you were a tough fighter...and that you highly dislike the Hierophant."

Samus huffed at the mention of the Hierophant. "I hate that guy. I don't understand how the Magician gets along with him...their relationship baffles me. It's confusing."

"Yeah, I hate to admit, but sometimes I'm confused, too." Strength responded. "I hate to ask this, but...how did you become a bounty hunter?"

"How did you join this tournament in the first place? I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours." Samus needed information. She only knew of how the Magician and the Sun joined the tournament, and she wondered if Strength's backstory was as twisted as theirs...it only seemed fair to tell him her past he told his own first, after all.

Strength nodded. "Alright...but don't tell anyone about mine. It's not too complicated...or at least I don't think so."

* * *

The Cagemaster stood in the dimly-lit hall, briefly looking at the now unlit stained glass window of Peach when a growl was heard. The Cagemaster turned, and strode over to an opening in a wall, barred with blackened metal.

**_"What is it, Devil? What is it that makes you restless? Do you not enjoy the matches?"_**The Cagemaster quietly listened to the other speaking in response.

_"I...**I**_want _T**O**_ parti_cipate..._"

**_"Are you sure about that, Devil?"_ **The Cagemaster asked. **_"Do you wish to bring some bloodshed yourself now?"_**

"Y_E**S...pl**_**eas**e l**Et me..."**

The Cagemaster smirked. _**"Very well then. It's about time you were unleashed; those Smashers, the lower ranks...they're getting restless, and we need to bring them to a standstill again. Was Peach's death not enough for them, I wonder? Or maybe they want a new foe. And they will have it...soon."**_

The Cagemaster tore open the bars, and peered into the opening.

In the darkness, two blood-red eyes glittered as the creature stirred from its resting position.

It was time.

* * *

**Author note: Yup...there's one more in the Arcane, and that's the Devil. We get to see this one in action in the next chapter. This fighter's backstory will be second-to-last (Cagemaster being the last as I mentioned earlier). Speaking of backstories, so far whoever has reviewed want either the Hierophant or the Magician to be next, and expect the next backstory to be at around chapter 9 or 10. **

**One more thing. From here on, I probably will not update as often, so I hope you guys can be patient for the next chapters. Thanks.**


	7. Confession

7. Confession

"Hello..." said the Devil, its grin twisted up into a mangled, bloody smile. Zelda backed away in fear, and turned to see the Devil there, now. _"Wel__**cOmE to **_**thiS world of CraZy..."**

It had only been ten minutes since the match between Ike, Zelda and Devil had started-and Ike was already dead. The mercenary's corpse was lying on the ground meters away from the two, lying in a pool of blood.

"Aahh..." The Devil's red eyes stared at Zelda quietly. _"WhAt **Fun thIs **_**wIll **bEee...Truly, this will be enjoyable."

Zelda shivered as the Devil gently traced her cheek with a clawed, shadowy hand...before transforming into what looked like the Hierophant. She had learned straight from the beginning of the match that the Devil was a shiftshaper; and the Devil used that power to its advantage to kill Ike straightaway, simply by transforming into some version of Zelda, causing confusion between both the real Zelda and Ike, and then stabbed Ike in the back when they were distracted.

"This is **beautiful**." The Devil continued to speak quietly, with the Hierophant's voice. "Seeing your face filled with fear...perhaps I won't kill you just yet. I regret killing the mercenary so quickly; he could have provided me with much more _entertainment_, but...you'll do."

* * *

Where was the Sun and Kirby while the deadly match continued?

In the courtyard, walking in the rain with a yellow parasol over their heads. Sun had heard of the match, and definitely did not want Kirby to see Zelda and Ike, two of his friends, go against the _Devil _of all the Arcane. She didn't want Kirby to witness any bloodshed. The Devil was a trickster, a shape-shifter, a manipulator. Surely even just seeing the fighter destroy the others piece by piece would traumatize the puffball.

"Link...please, talk to me. Please?" The voice of the Magician caught the Arcane fighter's attention. Sun pushed Kirby back lightly, putting a finger to her lips to tell the chattering puffball to shush. Cautiously, carefully, she peeked about the corner. Standing in the nearby garden were Link and the Magician. The Hero of Twilight had his back to the Magician, who had reached out an arm, as if to say, _'Please don't leave me.'_

Link sighed before turning around, the look on his face annoyed. "What do you want right now?" he snapped. "I'm praying for Zelda to survive the match with whoever the heck the Devil is, and you're telling me that you need to talk to me!?" He pulled back a fist, restraining it from its need to punch the other in the face. "Just hurry up and tell me."

The Magician took a deep breath. "You know Lumos, right? The dove?"

Link's eyes widened with shock. The Magician...the _Magician_ of all of the Arcane knew Lumos? No. How? Why?

"How do you know Lumos!?" Link demanded, pointing his now-unsheathed Master Sword at the other man's throat. It was then that another thought crossed the Hero of Twilight's mind. "Don't tell me something bad happened to him..." he lowered the sword slightly as he spoke those words.

The Magician shook his head. "No. Nothing like that." he bit his lip anxiously, looking around briefly. He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"I'm Lumos."

The two were silent, and then the words sunk into the Hero of Twilight's brain. Lumos was him? The Magician? No. No...it couldn't be. No way Link could have been talking with one of the Arcane, one of the fighters that he hated. No...

"You're **joking**." Link snapped back, shoving the tip of his sword lightly against the Magician's shoulder. "No way you can shiftshape. It's impossible. No."

The Magician kept the same expression, his lip biting even harder and breaking skin. "_I'm...Lumos_." a little blood trickled down his pale lips and dripped off his chin. "I can shiftshape, Link...but only into the form of a dove. I'll even show you. Here, and now." He took a step back, closed his light blue eyes, and he changed.

There was a soft light that emannated from the Arcane fighter's form, slowly, enveloping his body completely. It shrunk into a very small sphere, before shaping itself with a beak, wings, tail, feathers and a pair of little legs. The light vanished, leaving nothing but a small dove that looked exactly like Lumos, exactly like the bird Link would talk to ever so often.

Link was speechless until the Magician turned back to normal.

Link dropped his sword, shaken by the sudden information. His eyes widened with disbelief. He only spoke one word.

"Why?"

The Magician appeared to be blinking away a few tears.

"I wanted to communicate with you in some way. You were always so nice to everyone; talking and laughing with them, training together, you even consoled other Smashers that had lost others dear to them...so I thought you would be nice to me too. I knew that you had a dislike towards the Arcane, but...I just...I just wanted to talk with you!" he shouted out the last words, breaking at the last word in the sentence. "Why do so many of you Smashers...no...why does the whole world have to become some stupid monster!? Every insult, every drop of blood, every scream and the cries for mercy that end up in vain...it reminds me of every stone I took that scarred my body, where I used to live!" He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "The Hierophant was right. You Smashers just don't get it."

The Magician then left, without saying another word.

* * *

_**"Very well done, Devil...I'm impressed. I do believe that's enough blood for today, though; you need some rest. Those burns aren't going to heal themselves."**_

The Devil slunk back into its den, closing up the entrance with metal bars. The Cagemaster looked at the den for a moment, before looking back at the cup of white tea in its shadowy hand and sipping it briefly. A small knock at the door was heard before opening, and the Magician slipped into the room, closing the door behind him.

The Cagemaster's face contorted to something of concern. _**"What has happened, child?"**_

"...I really don't know..." The Magician sighed quietly, wiping away a tear with his sleeve. "But it...hurts. Just like...before."

The Cagemaster gestured to a chair, and he sat down. _**"Do you need to rant? I know you're not much of one to talk about your past, but...you need to let go sometimes. You can't bottle up every insult you take, Magician."**_

The Magician nodded. "Yeah...maybe you're right. Perhaps I will rant...after all."

* * *

**Author note: ...Okay, first off, I apologize that I really did not do anything in terms of the Devil and Zelda's fight. But don't worry, we will see the Devil in action sometime. Just not now.**

**Also...backstories! The Magician's backstory is coming up next chapter, so I hope it makes up for this not-so-awesome chapter. People, more requests for which backstory being next would be great. Just remember to keep in mind that the backstory that comes next might affect the flow of the story a little, so make sure you make a decent reason for why you want this Arcane's backstory to be next. There's still the Sun, Strength, and the Hierophant to choose from (Devil and Cagemaster will be last). Thanks!**


	8. History: Magician

History: Magician

The laughter of children echoed in the courtyard as two ran about, playing tag with each other. Two adults, a couple, sat on a bench nearby under the shady tree, smiling and watching their son and daughter at play. Beside the couple stood a man with long, blond hair and light blue eyes.

He smiled.

He didn't mind being the servant to this noble family. It was in his blood to be a servant; he practically knew it since day one. Generations upon generations of his family had served the nobles, and he was always taught to have a pleasant smile on his face no matter what pain he was in, as so not to let down the master. He was a hard worker, and was the valet of the household as a result. He would be the last to go to sleep and the first to rise at dawn. And he didn't mind that. Not a single bit.

* * *

He loved music. He was well-trained in piano as a young boy, so he would play the piano for the family sometimes, and the children would beg him to sing, too. He didn't mind that, even though the thought of singing to someone could be a bit unnerving to him.

Even when he went to sleep, the melodies of the previous song he played for them would echo in his head. It was a comforting lullaby to him, especially with being exhausted from the long day's work.

There were a lot more things he loved too, like doves and freshly brewed tea and such. Of course, music was one of those, too, but the things he loved most of all were **_smiles_**. From the nervous, shy smiles to the energetic grins, they all meant they were happy or excited or felt some sort of positive emotion, and that was very good.

* * *

One night, he heard screams. He dashed out of bed, grabbed a lantern, and ran down the hallway towards the master's bedchambers, not bothering to put a bathrobe on. He flung the door open.

There, on the bed, lay the master and his wife, drenched in **blood**.

He dropped the lantern, unsure of what to do. But then another thought crossed his mind.

_The children!_

He immediately checked the bedchambers where the master's son and daughter slept.

They were drenched in blood, too.

All of the faces in the dead family of nobles...all of them didn't have a single _smile_, either.

He staggered, and slipped on some of the blood that was dripping onto the floor. He got up quickly, staring at the scarlet, life-giving liquid staining his hands, his dressing gown, his face, his long, blond hair...

And that's when the other servants appeared and saw him.

* * *

**"How could he!?"**

**"Traitor!"**

**"Coward!"**

**"Murderer!"**

The townspeople immediately accused the man to be guilty of murdering the nobles and sentenced him to a stoning. Even though he told the truth about what happened, no one believed him. The people took him to the town square and threw him to the ground, before gathering stones, rocks, sticks; anything they could find to throw at him.

He stared about in fear. Why didn't they believe him? Why? It didn't make any sense. He was only telling the truth. And now, he was going to be stoned to death. He had a feeling it was going to hurt.

(Wait. Didn't they say that you should _smile,_ no matter how much pain you had? It wouldn't let these townspeople down, right?)

He got to his knees, looked at the people, and gave a smile as a tear dropped down his face.

The townspeople roared and began their assault.

Rocks, sticks, stones, almost everything one could find easily to throw, they threw them at the man, cutting skin and fabric and making him fall back to the ground again in pain, _pain_, **more pain**...

So much blood was flowing from the cuts on his nearly nude body. Majority of the people spat on his body and left, and a few stayed behind, leering at him before leaving, as well. He stared around, not knowing what to do. His body hurts. His mind hurts. Everything hurts. His vision is getting dimmer, and he lets out a quiet sigh. Maybe he's going to die here, unloved and unwanted and alone.

Yes...that must be it.

_Could he smile one more time, before he takes his last breath?_ It would be nice to die with a smile on his face.

Before he could, however, he notices a shadow from above. A strong pair of arms, coloured with shades of grey, cradle him gently. The eyes...something about those eyes makes him want to continue staring at them. Then the voice is heard. The voice doesn't belong to any of the townspeople for sure.

**_"Hush, child...you'll be alright soon."_**

He blacked out.

* * *

Warmth...the feeling of something soft, warm and thick covering his body, up to the shoulders is what he feels at first; a blanket. A pillow, newly fluffed, supports his head and he's lying on a comfortable bed. The feel of bandages wrapped about his chest, his arms, his forehead, his legs, his lower back...it's the only thing uncomfortable, strangely. It's weird...wasn't he supposed to be dying? Or maybe this is what is supposed to happen when he's dead. He doesn't know.

**"Ah...you're awake." **he slowly turns his head to see a pair of dark amber eyes meet his light blue ones. There's a man sitting by the bedside. Dark amber eyes, brown hair that is a few inches from touching his shoulders...who is he? "You're not dead, by the way. The Cagemaster found you; said that you were unrightfully stoned by your own people. How cruel..." he shook his head quietly.

"Who..." the blond pauses, realizing his voice sounded so hoarse. "Who are you?" he asks weakly, before coughing a bit, his chest wracking with pain.

"Shh..." the other man puts a finger to his lips. "You don't need to speak. I am the Hierophant. And I believe the Cagemaster has given you the title of...Magician, I think."

"Magician? Why?"

"It's because everyone in the Arcane rank of this tournament has a title. That's why."

"Tournament?"

"...Look, I'll explain it all to you soon. But get some rest. It'll take a while before you recover." the Hierophant gently touched the Magician's cheek, smiling a little. "You have no need to fear me. We are of the same rank, after all..."

* * *

The Magician learned quickly of all the rules in the tournament, what ranks had how many chances to lose before they got killed, and he got quite worried when the Arcane rank could only have one loss before getting killed, unlike the C, B, or A ranks. The Hierophant reassured him, explaining to him that the Arcane were superior, second to the Cagemaster; there was no way they could get killed off so easily.

The more time the two spent together, the more the Magician found himself...well...attracted to the Hierophant.

The Magician couldn't help but like that smile the Hierophant made. It could mean anything; from determination to joy to hiding mischief to, well, basically anything. The deep voice was elegant, harsh when angry (Death did pull a prank on the Hierophant once), light like a feather when speaking with him. And well...there was just something about the personality of the Hierophant. Something...alluring, something...that could be close to seductive. He just couldn't figure out what.

* * *

The two were having tea in the courtyard, accompanied with ice cream of dark chocolate and creamy vanilla.

"Hierophant?" the Hierophant looked up to see the Magician, who was blushing a little. "Um...I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?" the Hierophant asked, leaning a little closer towards the other while swallowing a spoonful of the dark chocolate ice cream in his bowl.

"Well...I...um..." the Magician let out a small groan. "I can't express my feelings in words, and I desperately need to right now. What do I do?" he took a quick sip of his tea before swallowing another spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

"You don't need to express your words through speech. One can do the same through actions, I believe." the Hierophant smirked. "Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you."

"Why?"

"Come on, Magician...it wouldn't be a surprise if you don't close your eyes." the Hierophant coaxed gently, tracing the Magician's cheek with one hand. The Magician blushed even more and pulled away slightly before closing his eyes. At first, there was nothing, and then-

That's when the Magician realized the Hierophant was kissing him. He opened his mouth slightly in a silent 'oh,' allowing the other Arcane fighter to deepen the kiss a little more. Vanilla met chocolate in a tasteful combination, yet the kiss never went any deeper. Eventually the Hierophant pulled back to take a breath. He smiled.

"Did you like that?" The Magician nodded in response. "Good. I'm glad about that..."

**_"Very romantic, you two."_ **the two turned to see the Cagemaster, a smile on the tournament ruler's face. **_"I wasn't expecting for you both to fall into such affectionate relations with each other."_**

"W-w-well...um..." the Magician's voice nearly went hoarse as he blushed lightly of embarassment. "I-I wasn't so sure...well..."

"I'm a terrible kisser!" the Hierophant sighed, also blushing of embarassment. "I really need to work on these sort of things..."

_**"I don't know the difference between any good or bad kiss, Hierophant...I don't think it matters as long as the other partner is fine with it."** _the Cagemaster responded, chuckling a little. **_"You don't need to be shy about such relations...it's fine with me."_**

* * *

"Cagemaster...you and all the rest of the Arcane accepted me, even though I was such a broken slate back then. If it wasn't for you and the Hierophant...I don't know if I would still be alive, even. My gratefulness to you is undying." the Magician finished quietly.

"Magician!" the two turned to see the Hierophant at the door. "I heard from Strength you didn't seem so well...you alright?"

The Magician sighed quietly, getting up from his chair and walking over to the other Arcane fighter. "I'm fine now...I think. I ranted to the Cagemaster about the past. But still, about Link...it's obvious he's not going to want to...talk to me like before..."

"Don't start crying on me again..." the Hierophant gently put a hand to the other's cheek. "We'll make it through this; like the night I was attacked by the dead monkey and the Fox, and like the other times you've cried before. We'll make it through this together." the two kissed each other briefly before the Hierophant spoke again. "I think the fact that Zelda lost the match against the Devil and her being in the hospital wing has shaken Link enough this time. But, I _will_ make him remember _not_ to mess with us Arcane if he hurts you again...I **_will_**." he paused before speaking again. "C'mon, now...aren't you going to smile? Smile for me, darling."

With that, the Magician's pale lips turned upwards in a small _grin_.

The Cagemaster smiled silently, watching the Arcane fighters from the throne. The two were just perfect for each other...just...perfect. Nothing would seperate them. Nothing. And that was completely fine.

* * *

**Author note: And that's the Magician's backstory. Hopefully I captured why the Magician sticks with the Hierophant, despite the Hierophant's nature to dislike the 'lower ranks' and such. Hope you guys review!**


	9. Switched

9. Switched

"Link? Zelda?" the two turned to see Death standing in the doorway of the hospital room. "May I come in?" she asked. "I'm not going to kill her."Link looked at the injured princess lying on the large, white bed. Zelda nodded weakly, and reluctantly, Link gestured to Death to enter the little girl looked at Zelda quietly. "Wow. The Devil did a ton of damage on you. I wasn't expecting this..." she trailed off in awe. "I do hope you get better soon, Zelda...there's not many females around here than there is guys, and it sucks if we have to lose another female."

"You're asking her to get better for that reason?" Link asked her, partially glaring at her at the same time.

Death shrugged. "Well, Peach is dead, Jigglypuff is dead, and the Ice Climbers were the first to get killed in the tournament. There's only me, Sun, Zelda, Samus, and maybe a few others. On the other hand, there's tons of men. Tons of male fighters. And that sucks." she paused before speaking again. "Right...I remember now, I have messages for the both of you."

"Go ahead and tell them, then." Link responded, sitting at Zelda's bedside. "We're listening."

Death sat down opposite Link before speaking. "Zelda...you won't be able to fight for a while. You have a concussion, as well as a broken leg, both wrists, and a few ribs. You're going to have to get used staying here for a while. As for you, Link..." she paused again before speaking. "Your match with the Magician tomorrow has been canceled. Instead, the Cagemaster has no matches for you tomorrow. You've been switched out with someone else."

"Who?" Link asked, curious. "And why?"

"I don't know why, but I know who. Roy has been chosen to fight the Magician in your stead. Be happy about it." Death paused for a moment. "Speaking of the Magician, he seemed quite upset earlier, but he seems a little alright. Perhaps he ranted to the Cagemaster or to the Hierophant about whatever problem he had and got it over with."

Link immediately thought back to the confrontation with the Magician earlier. _Did the Magician speak to the Cagemaster about it? _

He shook the thought of it out of his mind. _I can't worry about that right now... _he turned to Zelda, quietly, before speaking to her.

"Zelda...I swear, I'm not going to let you end up like this." he whispered quietly, putting his hand in one of hers carefully. "I'm not going to let you end up like this. Not again."

* * *

_I didn't think the Magician was this good of a fighter! _Roy thought as he dodged a punch from the Magician. _I have to find a weak spot, distract him somehow...even if it's just for a moment._

Roy had brought his sword to battle, since he was a swordsman and all, but the Magician had brought nothing but a long piece of wood. For some reason, Roy had found that he couldn't cut the wood, so destroying the Magician's weapon was definitely not an option. Even worse, the Magician could transform into a dove and fly about whenever Roy got close to him.

_He's obviously a long-range fighter at his best. It's probably the reason why he's trying to avoid any actual contact with me. I can't hit him unless I'm close enough, though...what am I going to do?_

It was only then that Roy noticed pieces of rubble on the ground, from last night's match of the Devil versus Zelda. _I know what I can do!_

Roy picked up a few jagged pieces of the debris before throwing them at the Magician. One of them hit him at the side of the forehead and giving him a cut while the rest hit his arms, which the Magician had held up as a shield. "Yes!" Roy cheered quietly before picking up his sword and starting to charge towards the Magician...when he realized there was something _**wrong.**_

The Magician was still smiling, even as blood dribbled down the side of his face and dripped into his mouth or off his chin.

"What?" the Magician sounded strangely jovial. He didn't even sound pained at all. "What's with the look on your face? It's very, very _rude_ to stare like that." The haunting smile still remained.

Roy blinked quickly, before responding. "You're _smiling_ and you just got_ rocks_ thrown at you. What's with that?"

"It's an unbreakable habit of mine. I was taught to always smile when I'm in pain, so that I don't let down the master."

"Don't let down the master...? What?"

The Magician's grin only widened. "You made a bad, **bad **mistake to do what you just did. Very, very bad. And now you must be punished for it, you guilty fiend."

* * *

"No...no!" Samus turned to see the Hierophant staring at the TV screen, a worried look on his face. "Roy...that idiot...no..."

"All Roy did was throw rocks at him. They are supposed to be having a match, you know." Samus told him.

The Hierophant glared at Samus angrily. **_"You have no idea what that's going to do to the both of them."_**he then ran out of the lounge, roughly pushing her out of the way as he did so.

* * *

The fight was terrible.

Roy had been sliced apart with his own sword, his body parts strewn about the arena. Blood pooled on the ground, and the Magician was drenched in the scarlet liquid. He stared at his blood-covered hands, his light blond hair, his white, now blood-stained clothing...

_There, on the bed, lay the master and his wife, drenched in **blood**._

_**"Traitor!"**_

_**"Coward!"**_

_**"Murderer!"**_

"No...no...NO!" he screamed as he tried to shake out the memores, holding his head in both hands. "NO! No..." he stared at his hands again. He then turned to look at the decapitated head of the swordsman.

There was no smile on Roy's face.

He let out a loud wail, collapsing to the ground and curling up into a ball, wrapping his arms about his bent legs silently. He shook, still sobbing as tears streamed down his face.

"MAGICIAN!"

The Magician looked up a little to see the Hierophant, his face full of concern. "What happened?" he asked.

The Magician didn't know what to say, except for one question.

"...Hierophant...I'm scared...am I...am I a murderer? Am I going _crazy_?"

The Hierophant scooped up the frightened blond in his arms gently, holding him close to his chest as the two left the arena. "You're not going crazy..." the Hierophant sighed quietly, gritting his teeth and trying his best not to burst into tears. "You're not. Don't say that. And you're not a freaking murderer, not in my eyes! Please, just..." he didn't know what to say anymore...but he knew he would do anything to make sure that the Magician didn't get anymore twisted..._**anything...**_

* * *

**_"Pit."_ **the angel turned to see the Cagemaster in the doorway. **_"I have decided that I am in need for a companion tonight."_**

"And...that means?" Pit asked awkwardly.

**_"The Magician and I are going to be dining in my office tonight. Would you like to join us?"_**


	10. Candlelit Dreams and Nightmarish Feasts

10. Candlelit Dreams and Nightmarish Feasts

Pit had accepted the invitation to dine with the Cagemaster and the Magician.

_Wear something nice, _the Cagemaster had told him. _And arrive at six thirty sharp tonight. _

It had been somewhat difficult for the angel to find something suitable to wear, but with a little help from Zelda and Samus, he had went for a simple, white suit with a black tie. He figured it would be alright; it would be a nice change from his usual toga.

When he entered the quarters, it just didn't seem as silent or tense as its atmosphere usually was.

The soft glow of candles caught the angel's attention, resting in their slots on the candlesticks in the middle of the circular table. There were silver chairs for three, and in two of those chairs sat the Magician and the Cagemaster. The Cagemaster wore the usual dark black hood, while the Magician wore something, well...different than his usual outfits. He wore a soft, white dress, flowing down past the ankles and the waist was accentuated with a band of what looked like clear diamonds. His long, blond hair was down like usual and the look on his face seemed more full of curiosity, a small, shy smile upon his face.

"..." Pit didn't know what to say.

The Cagemaster gestured to the empty seat. **_"I'm glad you could join us, Pit...although, I do apologize if the Magician is quite silent; he didn't have a satisfying match up against the swordsman Roy earlier...something came up and he's ended up like this."_**

"It's-it's alright, I guess..." Pit trailed off, sitting down opposite the Cagemaster. "Um...thank you for inviting me."

_What happened to the Magician? He really does seem silent... _Pit hadn't heard much about the match between the Magician and Roy, but apparently something happened which ended up with Roy getting killed; something involving the action of throwing rocks at the Magician... _Does the Magician have a bad memory of something like that?_

The Cagemaster stood suddenly. Pit looked up, confused.

**_"I...suppose it's quite rude of me to be wearing this at such a fancy meal. Forgive me."_** The cloak seemed to fade silently, quickly, into grey-coloured smoke. Pit's eyes widened at the figure before him.

She stood, silently, her dark amber-no, light blue-no _colour-changing_ eyes looking at him gently. Her gown was a dark black, flowing past the ankles just like the Magician and she wore simple black flats to accompany it. Her straight hair was a ravened black, stopping just at the chin. The bangs of her hair stopped milimeters above her eyebrows. Her skin was deathly pale. One could say her beauty was a sickly one. _Sickly_, yet...**_beautiful_**.

"Surprised?" she asked. "You probably weren't expecting...this, were you? For me to reveal my true form in front of you..." she sat back down, looking at Pit quietly. "My real name is **_Illustria_**. You may address as such for tonight, but tonight only unless I say otherwise. And," she added. "Do not tell a single soul of what happens here tonight. Is that agreed?"

Pit swallowed before responding. "Agreed."

* * *

"Man, I can't believe it...Pit gets to dine with the Cagemaster and the Magician!" Wolf grumbled to some of the other fighters sitting at the table as he took a bite out of a bread roll. "I bet they're having more higher-quality meals than us, probably something like filet mignon..."

"C'mon, Wolf, you know the Cagemaster does seem to take a preference towards Pit." Falco responded, sipping a glass of apple juice. "Why else would the Cagemaster put him up to A Rank?" he paused for a moment. "Speaking of the food, it's actually not that bad today..."

"I wonder why the Cagemaster is interested in him in the first place..." Samus trailed off.

Before anyone could respond, a loud snapping of fingers was heard, and everyone turned to face the Hierophant. He and the rest of the Arcane (excluding the Magician, obviously) had been watching the Smashers eat; making sure that they were doing just that and didn't start any unecessary shenanigans. Samus noticed that there was something in the Hierophant's eyes, something of pure malice and...delight. It chilled her to the bone. Something was _wrong_...

"Oh. Just thought I'd mention that all the doors are _locked_, so you can't have _access_ to any _bathrooms_ for the next little while..." he smirked. "**_Have fun_**."

And immediately, all the Smashers would have screamed out in alarm if not for the pressure in their guts.

* * *

Pit had been in the middle of finishing a wonderful tasting steak when he heard a chorus of horrified screams coming from down below.

"What was that!?" he gasped, standing up in alarm. "What's...going on?"

Illustria put down her fork, and closed her eyes for a moment before responding.

"Ah...I see. So the Hierophant decided to go through with that plan after all..." Illustria trailed off. The Magician appeared to cringe slightly at that statement.

"Plan?" Pit asked. "What did they do?" he asked, anticipating the worst.

"You see, the Arcane contaminated all of the Smasher's food with laxatives that would cause them to have some diahrrea of sorts..." Illustria paused for a moment. "No need for you to be alarmed. Your food was not contaminated."

Pit sat down, shaking slightly. "Don't tell me you just invited me up here so I wouldn't suffer the same as those guys!" he exclaimed. "What did they ever do to you to deserve this?"

Illustria's face seemed to turn towards an icier expression than before. "They have attacked the Hierophant, verbally abused the Magician, and insulted Death in the previous week." she snapped. "_Anyone that offends the Arcane...offends me._ And they must be punished for it."

* * *

If you had been in that hall filled with almost every fighter in the tournament, you would have thrown up at the smells of fresh waste strewn about, seen the feeble attempts of trying to vomit out all of what the Smashers had throughly digested. If you had been in that hall, you would have tried to get out of the main doors, to only realize that the Hierophant was right; that the doors were locked.

If you had been in that hall, you would have seen the smirk of triumph upon the Hierophant's face.

"You bloody bastard-" Snake started cursing.

"What?" the Hierophant spoke in response, cutting off the warrior. "I thought you all enjoyed the food. It was a better quality than the usual. And since you enjoyed the food so much...I'll even let you have _seconds_. **_Happy?_**"

Before someone could do anything, new plates of food emerged onto the tables out of nowhere. The Hierophant turned to Strength, knowing that the Smashers wouldn't want to do this command he would give out.

"Eat." Strength spoke firmly. Some of the Smashers let out cries of fear, of mercy, but the Strength's blank face wasn't changing. Mentally, though, Strength couldn't help but feel terrible for the Smashers. _They're being forced to eat drugged food against their will... _Strength looked at the Hierophant silently. _I understand if it's for the sake of warning them, but this is really a bit much..._

The Sun couldn't help but cover her eyes at the gruesome sight. All of the Smashers unwillingly, quickly started to eat, their mouths filled...all except for one.

"Just start eating already! Do you want to get killed?" Wolf whispered hoarsely to Sonic, who was staring at the food and the waste in horror.

Sonic shook his head quietly. "I just...I just can't, Wolf." he muttered. "I...can't."

"This is your last chance, lower rank." the Hierophant was heard growling. "_Eat_ or _die_. Your choice."

Sonic turned towards the Hierophant. "Since when did you have any rule over us!? I refuse to obey you, and I never will obey you!" he shouted. "You threaten us like this all because you're scared of us, aren't you!? You coward-"

Some of the Smashers screamed as the hedgehog was sliced in half. The Hierophant gave a cold glare towards the corpse, spitting on it before speaking.

_**"Don't. Call. Me. Coward."**_

Before anyone could do a thing, the lights suddenly went out.

* * *

Illustria stared about in shock. "This isn't good." she spoke quickly. She turned to the Magician, who now held a flashlight in his hand. "Get the Hierophant over here, now!"

"Yes, Cagemaster." the Magician whispered quietly before suddenly dissapearing into thin air.

"What's going on?" Pit asked.

The Cagemaster looked at him quietly, seemingly nervous. "Pit..." Illustria paused before continuing. "The Hierophant hates the pitch black darkness...he would go into a reaction almost like how the Magician reacted shortly after Roy's death. Think of what the Hierophant might be going through, and then you can understand the situation."

* * *

"No...no! NO!"

The Hierophant's scowl towards the dead corpse of Sonic had suddenly turned into screams of horror. "No! I don't-no-not a-not a murderer! _I'm not a murderer! I'M INNOCENT!_ Mother! Father! **_Don't leave me!_**I'M NOT A MURDERER!"

"What the-" Samus was cut off by another scream from the Hierophant. All of the Smashers looked about the pitch black hall, confused. What was going on? Why was the Hierophant screaming like this all of a sudden. Not a murderer? Mother? Father? Innocent? It didn't make any sense...

"Does anyone have a flashlight!?" Death was heard shouting over the Hierophant's screams. "Somebody turn on a light unless you want to get killed-"

Then suddenly, the screaming stopped. The lights flickered back on.

The Hierophant wasn't in the room anymore.

* * *

Pit stared as the Magician reappeared with the Hierophant, shaking and sobbing. "I'm-I'm not a-I'm not a murderer-I'm not a-_mother don't leave me!" _The Hierophant kept saying repeatedly, grasping onto the Magician's arms tightly. "I'm not a-"

"Hierophant, it's okay! It's not dark here!" the Magician shouted, also grasping onto the other just as tightly. "There's no one out to get you. And you're not a murderer. You're not..." the Magician shook his head silently, before looking into the Hierophant's crazed eyes quietly. "You're not a murderer." he spoke more calmly. "Not as much as I am."

The Hierophant went silent, before blinking. He didn't look as crazed anymore, but he obviously looked a bit rattled at the Magician's statement.

The Hierophant shook his head quietly, grasping the Magician less tightly now. "No. **I** am a _murderer_. You were _falsely accused._"

"You're not a murderer to me!" the Magician cried out, burying his head into the Hierophant's shoulder. The Hierophant held the Magician closely, closing his eyes briefly before the two looked at each other, gazing into each other's eyes and leaning closer towards each other...before suddenly freezing.

It was only then that the two turned to stare at Pit. The angel had only then realized that he had been watching the two the entire conversation. The Hierophant backed up a few paces while the Magician just blankly stared back at the angel. Pit heard a soft sigh from behind him, and turned to see the Cagemaster, back in her usual cloaked form.

**_"Pit."_ **The Cagemaster's voice seemed to quiver slightly. **_"Leave. Please."_**

All Pit could do was nod and leave the room, unsure of what to say or do next.

* * *

_What should I do?_

_The Magician...the Hierophant...they're both...getting worse. They're descending further into **madness**..._

_What do I do?_

_What should I do with them? _

_...If I had left those two...if I left them to die...**would I have done them a favor?** _

**_Would leaving them to die let them be free from the madness they were descending into? _**

_Or would they have fallen into their own **hell**; voices in their heads telling them that they were **terrible, wicked beings **and** never **deserved to** exist?**_

_What should I do?_

_...Make them **lose**? Make them lose the next match? But that would mean-_

**Death. **

_...They don't have to be actually dead to be called dead, right? But their own minds...what should I do with that, then? They would probably be scared once they go into the Devil's Den...would the Devil scare them?_

_I would have to fabricate the perfect illusion for them, a tabula rasa. _

_**Tabula rasa.** That's it. A blank slate. They can start over. _

_So be it, then._

_But the match..._

**_Who would they be unwilling to fight right now?_**

* * *

**Author note: Okay, I looked at the reviews, and it looks like the viewers want the Hierophant's backstory next. It will appear sometime in the next few chapters. Just thought I'd ask a few questions, and you could answer them in the reviews or in a PM.**

**1. Why do you think the Cagemaster invited Pit to dinner and revealed her true form in front of him?**

**2. What do you think will happen to the Magician and the Hierophant next?**

**3. Which Smasher do you think might die next, and why?**

**4. What do you guys think about all of the Arcane (Devil, Strength, Death, Sun, Hierophant and Magician)?**

**5. Which Arcane backstory do you want to see next (remember, Devil and Cagemaster will be the last ones, and there is still Strength and the Sun to choose from)? Why?**


	11. Chasing Answers

_11. Chasing Answers_

Lucario stood in the library, leaning against one of the bookshelves. It had been three days since the Hierophant had his breakdown, three days since majority of the Smashers had been forced to eat drugged food, and three days since Pit had dinner with the Cagemaster and the Magician.

The poor aura pokemon was completely confused by this turn of events. Who wouldn't be? No one had spoken of the Hierophant since, and the same went for the Magician. Pit didn't really seem to want to talk about what had occured during the time he dined with the Cagemaster, either.

The jackal grabbed a random book from the shelf, and flipped it open, and began to read.

* * *

_The Hierophant screamed and cried as the Smashers stared about with shock. What was going on? Why was the Hierophant panicking? It was a just a mere blackout, only a mere blackout...surely the lights would turn on soon..._

* * *

Lucario froze. What? Wasn't this...didn't this just happen three days ago? And why was it all written down here? He immediately flipped a few pages forward and continued to read.

* * *

_**"Pit." **The Cagemaster's voice seemed to quiver slightly. **"Leave. Please." **__All Pit could do was nod and leave the room, unsure of what to say or do next. The Magician and the Hierophant continued to hold each other, afraid of the insanity they were slowly descending into..._

* * *

**_"You've been reading? I've never seen you in here before." _**Lucario dropped the book, startled by the Cagemaster's prescence. **_"You're reading an old story of mine. Wrote it all down three days ago."_ **the Cagemaster remarked, walking over to the aura pokemon and looking at the book before picking it up and putting it back on the shelf. **_"What brings you here on a day like this?"_**

_"Well..." _Lucario paused for a moment. _"I was...curious. There are so many questions I need to find answers to; and the more answers I find, the more questions pop up. I feel like I'm chasing answers all the time now..."_

_**"Understandable. I feel the same. I don't undestand something..."** _The Cagemaster paused before asking, _**"Why is it that you Smashers seem to...highly dislike the Arcane? Why? They never met you until the tournament; they couldn't have done anything bad to all of you before the tournament therefore."**_

_"When I first sensed their aura...I felt malice. Destruction. Chaos. All of that was becoming a chasm of turmoil in their own hearts, their own feelings. Perhaps it was out of fear that majority of us Smashers don't attempt to get along with them. Besides that, the Arcane's skills are deadly. And I remember you saying once before that you only recruited them approximately a month before the tournament started. I don't understand how one can become so destructive within a month, unless you put them through an intense sort of training, and the Smashers fear that as well."_

The Cagemaster sighed. _**"Also understandable. But mind you, it's not just training that got them to this level. It's movitation. It's amazing how skillful one can be at something if you have the perfect movitation."**_The Cagemaster appeared to chuckle at this statement. **_"Movitation. Heh. Sometimes I forget the why I'm movitated to keep this tournament running."_**

Lucario didn't know what to say. Movitation. Why would the Cagemaster mention that?

_**"All of the Arcane have their unique movitations to continue fighting. I'm sure all of you Smashers do as well."**_

With that, the Cagemaster started to leave the room.

_"Wait!" _The Cagemaster turned to look at Lucario.

**_"What is it, Lucario?"_**

_"...It's...just...Why do you write all of this stuff down, anyway?"_

The Cagemaster seemed to falter, to hesitate before speaking. **_"...If I wrote this on any other surface, it's the work of an insane person. When I write on paper, it's a story. The events that go on during this tournament serve as a story. Every. Single. One of them."_**

* * *

**Author note: ...I know, short chapter...more of a filler chapter, really. But, guess what? The Hierophant's backstory is next chapter! Hopefully, that will make up for it. **

**Also, I'm still looking for answers to my questions from chapter 10. A reply to them would be nice, seriously. Note that question two in particular...well...you don't have to answer that one. Answering all the rest of them, though, would be nice! Thanks!**


	12. History: Hierophant

**_History: Hierophant_**

_"Poor child..."_

_"Can't believe it...his parents...murdered..."_

_"He's only fifteen, and the only heir to his family fortune. What is he to do?"_

The fifteen year old child lay in the hospital bed as he heard whispers from outside the room. The lights were still on. He didn't want them to be turned off. That would be terrible. Mother and father were killed in the dark. Would he be killed in the dark, too?

He remembered seeing the corpses of his mom and dad. Blood-smeared. Split limbs. And there was a monster with leering eyes, looking up from its meal...

He shuddered. He didn't want to think about it, know about it, or hear about it. Not at all.

* * *

He _grew up_. Tried not to mind the past events one bit. The pain of losing his parents still stung, though.

He grew _disgusted_. Those commoners...begging for money, for food, for anything. They should be happy that they have family, at the very least.

He grew _fearful_. He always made sure there was a light on before he went to sleep. He didn't want to get killed in the dark.

* * *

He stared silently, gazing at a family. The husband and wife were sitting on the bench, watching the children play. Beside them stood a man with long, blond hair; probably their servant. They didn't seem to be irked about anything; that was good. But most people...gosh.

It wasn't fair. People complained about everything; the way they look, the way they talked, finances, other people...really.

Some people were complaining about their own **family**, for goodness sakes! What would some of these people do if they didn't have their family with them? They would wither and die, that's what they would do; maybe spiral into what some of the worst would do; prostitution, drugs, stealing...

Without family...how could one really learn to live in a world like this?

His thoughts were cut out when he noticed the servant whack his hand against one of the unlit streetlights by accident, as the family started to leave the park. He appeared to look at his hand quietly, before...smiling. Perhaps the injury hadn't been so bad...but then he noticed that the hand was bloody, an open cut on the palm of the servant's hand.

Odd, yet...interesting. He wondered how the servant could smile so much, despite how painful that cut might have been.

* * *

Whatever had murdered his parents...that..._thing _had come back after ten years. The town grew fearful. Doors and windows were locked every night, and candles were always lit.

He had been late getting back home from a town meeting the mayor had held. He walked down the street, worried. He hoped the thing wouldn't attack him.

All of a sudden, the streetlights went out simultaneously. He looked around. He swore he heard heavy footsteps.

And turning to look behind him, he saw _something_ lunge at him.

He screamed, diving out of the way. Whoever it was...it definitely looked human, but...he could see those eyes too well...the eyes of the creature that killed his parents. He shakily unsheathed the sword he carried with him whenever he walked about at night. He stared right back at the creature's eyes. He was going to make sure the light in those eyes went out...he was going to do whatever he could to avenge his parents; even if it scared him to death.

Taking a deep breath, he let out a roar as he charged forward, the moonlight making the silver blade flash gently. The creature lunged at him.

And..._blood_.

_Lots of it._

_All over the ground._

He stared at the bloodstained blade, the bloodstained body on the ground, the bloodstained hands that held the blade...

And some of the townspeople found him, just like that.

**"MURDERER!"**

**"So YOU were behind it all! You killed your parents ten years ago, didn't you?"**

**"Defiler of innocents!"**

"No-No..." he trailed off, his whole body shaking. "I'm not...I'm not a..."

_He snapped._

**_"I'M NOT A MURDERER!"_**

Swinging his blade, he let out a scream of terror as more blood was shed and more corpses fell to the ground.

* * *

"No...no..." he stared down at the blood pooling about, all over the town square. "No." he whispered quietly.

He looked at the bloodstained blade. He didn't want this to happen! When the rest of the townspeople came, he would be killed for it. He...he didn't...he didn't mean to...was he a...

"I'm a murderer. And murderers should die."

He looked at the blade silently, closing his eyes before bringing it closer to his neck...

_**"And what do you think you're doing, child?"** _a shadowy hand snatched the blade away, threw it far from him. He opened his dark amber eyes to see...a figure, cloaked in black. **_"Ah...I see. Your remorse. You didn't mean to do this. You never meant to do this."_ **

He took a step back, afraid. He slipped on the blood and fell on his rear, and then tried to back up. The figure only strode towards him calmly, before getting down on a knee and touching his cheek gently with one of the shadowy hands. The other hand pulled back the hood, revealing black hair...pale skin...and eyes that continually shifted its colours...

Those eyes...he felt...calmed. Soothed.

And then she embraced him.

_**"It's...okay...I'm right here. You can go ahead and vent."**_

* * *

He was recruited for her tournament. He was now called the Hierophant, one of the Arcane.

The Arcane were elite, superior over all except the Cagemaster; the one who had saved his life on that fateful day.

He had power. He could have glory in battle. But...something was still missing. He couldn't put his finger on what until now.

* * *

**_"He was stoned by the townspeople for a crime he did not do. The townspeople claimed that he had murdered the family he served."_ **The Cagemaster told the Hierophant as they walked into the hospital room. **_"Thing was, he was smiling while they kept throwing stones at him. I find it odd. Perhaps he was accepting the punishment, even if he didn't deserve it."_**

Smiling? While in pain? Wait a moment. Could it be-

The Hierophant stared down at the man lying in the hospital bed.

It was him. The servant he had seen a while ago with that family...the one that had cut his palm!

Even in his injured state, he just seemed...well...

Okay, the Hierophant hated to admit this to himself, but the guy was beautiful, even with the congealed blood staining his hair and the white bandage on his cheek.

**_"Take care of him. He is to be the Magician, one of the Arcane. And..."_ **The Cagemaster seemed to smile a little. **_"I think you two would get along quite well..."_**

* * *

He sighed, sitting by the Magician's bedside. He still hasn't woken up. The Hierophant sighed.

_Will he wake up?_

The Magician stirs quietly. He opens his eyes a little, blinking a bit.

"Ah...you're awake." the man slowly turns his head, and the Hierophant sees a pair of pretty, light blue eyes meet his dark amber ones. "You're not dead, by the way." the Hierophant reassured him. "The Cagemaster found you; said that you were unrightfully stoned by your own people. How cruel..." he shook his head quietly.

"Who..." the blond pauses. "Who are you?" he asks weakly, before coughing a bit.

Gosh, even his his voice is pretty. It's hoarse, but...there's still a bit of beauty in that voice.

"Shh..." the Hierophant puts a finger to the man's lips. "You don't need to speak. I am the Hierophant. And I believe the Cagemaster has given you the title of...Magician, I think."

"Magician? Why?"

"It's because everyone in the Arcane rank of this tournament has a title. That's why." The Hierophant tried to explain.

"Tournament?" Oh. The poor guy probably hasn't had an explanation of what this tournament is about. Then again, he's recovering from nearly getting killed. He probably still needs to sleep...

"...Look, I'll explain it all to you soon. But get some rest. It'll take a while before you recover." the Hierophant gently touched the Magician's cheek, smiling a little. "You have no need to fear me. We are of the same rank, after all..."

The Magician smiled a little, before his eyelids gracefully closed.

* * *

Gosh.

The Hierophant swears he's falling for the Magician. He looks so pretty, first off, especially in anything that makes him look feminine (such as dresses, dressing gowns, etc). The long, light blond hair and the light blue eyes make him look like some angel, a perfect masterpiece that God out there created; if God exists, that is.

The Magician is so kind, too. He invites the Hierophant to tea, the two read books together, and they have lengthy conversations; so long that Death has to run to them and tell them it's time for dinner. He's a little shy, and he always is able to give an answer. Okay, almost always. But most of the time, he has an answer.

"Why do I smile? It's an unbreakable habit of mine. I was taught to smile whenever I was in pain, as so not to let down the master."

Best of all, every little smile is filled with gracefulness; a smile like heaven, if heaven exists.

* * *

Kissing the Magician was fascinating. It allured him. Even three hours since then, he could still remember the feel of the Magician's lips on his.

So the Hierophant is madly, deeply in love with the Magician. The Hierophant can't help but think things are actually getting better. Like a happy ending to a story. The Hierophant only hopes that things will go that way.

* * *

The Smashers_ (lower ranks)_ come. The tournament starts.

And gosh, these Smashers are just so...what's the word for it? Right. **_Sad._**They have no sense of the real world around them at all. They remind him of those people from the past; always complaining about the way look and the way they talk and finances and everything else...never being grateful for family.

The first Smashers that the Hierophant fights, Popo and Nana, he kills.

The Smashers **deserve** to be in this tournament. Why?

Well...they have no idea what it's like to lose family. _Losing their friends would be pretty darn close,_ he thinks.

And with that thought in mind, he continues the fight.

* * *

The Cagemaster remembers hearing the Hierophant rant three days ago. Speaking of ranting, the Cagemaster has been hearing a lot of the ranting lately.

Something's wrong.

The Cagemaster can't put a finger on what. She silently looked at the screens around her; showing everything that went on in the building.

In one screen, the Hierophant and the Magician are reading novels together; their eyes desperate to find a satisfying ending.

The Cagemaster pulled back her hood and sighed sadly.

She's not sure if the two are going to enjoy the ending she has planned for them.

* * *

**Author note: And that's the Hierophant's history. Who do you want to see next, Strength or the Sun? The Devil and the Cagemaster are the second-last and last backstories, respectively. **


	13. Going Under

**_13. Going Under_**

There was something Lucario had been suspicious about the Cagemaster. It was something about the words the Cagemaster had told him earlier, a few days ago...

* * *

**_"If I wrote this on any other surface, it's the work of an insane person. When I write on paper, it's a story. The events that go on during this tournament serve as a story. Every. Single. One of them."_**

* * *

_"The events that go on during this tournament serve as a story..." _Lucario repeated. _"If those events serve as stories...would there be a prequel to this? A backstory? A history?" _he asked aloud to no one in particular.

_"You're saying it's possible that we can find why the Cagemaster started this tournament?" _Lucario turned to see Mewtwo, standing in the doorway of the lounge. The psychic pokemon walked towards Lucario, facing him.

_"I found a book days ago in the library about the time the Hierophant went all crazy during that blackout earlier this week. Do you remember that?" _Lucario responded, standing up. _"The Cagemaster's recording everything that's happening; maybe even this conversation if they are listening in or watching us! If that's so...wouldn't the Cagemaster have written what might have happened in the past?"_

_"It's a possible theory," _Mewtwo silently agreed. _"Perhaps we should investigate into this, and do it as quickly as possible. We can't waste any time if the Cagemaster is watching us."_

* * *

The two quickly recruited Samus, Link and Pit to help search through the shelves. They couldn't get too many people to help; otherwise they knew the Arcane might get suspicious of their actions and report it to the Cagemaster. As they entered the library, Lucario immediately closed his eyes, activating the aura filters.

_"We're not alone." _Lucario spoke quietly, keeping his eyes closed. _"There are two others in here."_

"Who?" Link asked, slightly worried. "Is it the Devil? Death? Strength?"

_"No...it's the Hierophant and the Magician. They're far in the back of the library, though...they're occupied with reading something. As long as we avoid their sight and not make too much noise, we should be alright." _the aura pokemon reassured him. _"We have to check the shelves. All of them. Leave no book overlooked."_

* * *

"I sense something...not something. Living beings. Smashers."

The Hierophant and the Magician looked up from the book they had been reading. "There's more people here now." the Hierophant whispered quietly to the other.

"Already?" the Magician asked, confused. "That doesn't make much sense...usually there isn't many people here. How many can you sense?"

"...Five. I have a feeling the aura pokemon's one of them...the same goes for the psychic pokemon. They're up to something. C'mon, we have to find them." the Hierophant whispered back. The two put their book away on a shelf before they slunk into the shadows...

* * *

_"Guys, there's a problem!" _Lucario's voice echoed in Samus' head, filled with urgency. _"I think the Hierophant's sensed me! He and the Magician have started wandering through here! You have to be careful!"_

"How is that possible?" Samus whispered quietly. "Do they have telepathic abilities?"

_"Unfortunately...yes." _Mewtwo was heard responding before cringing slightly. _"I looked into the Hierophant's mind just now; he passed by me...he can sense aura just like Lucario can. We have to be careful before-" _the statement was cut off with a loud, shrill scream, and a crash resounded in the library.

"Mewtwo!" Samus readied her arm cannon as she dashed along the bookshelves. Did one of the Arcane already find Mewtwo in action? She knew this wasn't going to end up well. The last time she saw them, they were starting to snap. They were starting to break under the pressure of the entire tournament...would they break completely if they found out she and the other Smashers had been looking for their backstories?

Samus felt sick. She was looking for a backstory of at least one person she considered a friend; the Magician. It felt so...rude, invasive, violative of the Arcane fighter's privacy. Could she have just simply asked? No...the Magician probably wouldn't want to talk about it. She knew that he would keep those sort of negative feelings and such bottled up; and he would only tell of it to ones he considered to be close with, such as her.

What would happen if he found out she had been digging about for his backstory, just to find a possible way to break out of this twisted tournament?

* * *

Pit looked about, worried. He hadn't heard anything from Mewtwo nor Lucario...did the two get caught?

_"Pit-keep-looking!" _Pit heard in his head, the voice belonging to the aura pokemon. _"Mewtwo and I-we'll keep the Hierophant at bay-just keep looking!" _After that, the voice was completely cut off.

Pit scanned the shelves. "No, no, no, no..." Pit trailed off, brushing his hand against the spines of the novels. "This isn't it...where could those backstories be?" he asked himself.

And then, he saw three words on a certain spine of a novel.

**History: Cagemaster Illustria.**

"...I found it." Pit whispered quietly, slowly taking the book off the shelf...when all of a sudden, a familiar voice interrupted him.

_**"Pit Icarus...tell me...what in the world do you think you're doing?"**_

And the angel turned to see Cagemaster Illustria, standing right behind him with a look of malice upon her face.

* * *

"What do you think you're doing!?"

Link didn't know what to reply. That he was looking for something to read? Definitely not a good answer, especially that he held a book containing the history of Lumos the dove, more known to everyone as the Magician.

"I..."

"Just shush." Link fell silent at the Magician's words. "I really trusted you, you know. You the person I trusted most, besides Samus. I listened to your rantings night and day while I was Lumos. I tried to help you. I've told you secrets that are meant to be silent. And this," he gestured to the book in Link's hand, "**This **is how you repay me?"

The Magician pointed a knife at the Hero of Twilight's throat before speaking three words.

**"How could you?"**

And then he struck.

* * *

"What the-" Strength started.

"What's going on!?" Sun gasped. The two, as well as several Smashers, stared at the scenes unfolding before them.

The Hierophant was beating Lucario and Mewtwo with every bit of strength he had as the two pokemon tried to keep up the aura and psychic barriers they had put up.

The Magician was now screaming at Link, scratching and punching and kicking at the Hero of Twilight.

And Illustria stood amongst the chaos, holding Pit by the throat while Samus had her arm cannon pointed at the Cagemaster.

"Drop him." Samus growled. "Now."

"And what gives you the authority to order me about, Samus, like I am some slave?" The Cagemaster snapped back. "How dare you defile this place...how dare you; _all of you_, dare try to search up my past like I am nothing but a criminal! I am dissapointed in all of you." she gave a cold glare at the angel, straight in the face. **_"__Especially you."_**

Pit let out a cough, as if trying to speak, and Illustria roughly threw him into a bookshelf, the novels flying all over the place as the shelf crashed with a sickening thud. The angel lay on the ground, seemingly lifeless. Everyone else who had been fighting froze mid-action. The Cagemaster glances at Lucario, Mewtwo, Magician, Hierophant and Link before looking at Pit silently, a blank expression on her face.

Samus tries to run to the angel, but she's pulled back by the Cagemaster's shadowy arm as Strength, out of instinct, runs to the angel and checks him for a pulse. Samus has seen Strength check pulses of every fighter he's defeated, if they're unconscious. Maybe it's a habit of his. Maybe he doesn't really like this fighting as she thought all the Arcane did...

Illustria glares at Samus, before speaking. The command is not towards her, however. **_"Magician...Hierophant. Both of you over here...now."_ **she hissed.

Immediately, the two Arcane fighters limp their way towards the Cagemaster, but they stop when they see her icy expression.

"Cagemaster?" the Magician sounds hoarse, and he's most likely weak from battling the Hero of Twilight. "What...what are you going to do to us?" one of his hands clutches onto on of the Hierophant's own as he spoke. The expression on his face was one of fear. The Hierophant himself even looked slightly worried.

**_"I've been watching the both of you very closely since Roy was killed in the tournament. You're both getting very unstable; and ranting obviously isn't helping..."_**The Cagemaster took a deep breath before speaking. **_"I'm sending you two into the Devil's Den...no questions asked."_**

* * *

_Unstable?_ Mewtwo wondered as he watched this new scene unfold before his eyes. _Of all the words used to describe them, why unstable? Unstable is used more for test subjects, for experiments...like me. _The psychic pokemon shook his head, ridding himself of his past. _Why would...the Cagemaster...describe them as such? And...what exactly is the Devil's Den?_

* * *

"Cagemaster, no!" the Hierophant choked out, his face a look of horror. "You can't...please-" he stopped when the Magician grasped his hand tighter, and shook his head. All the Hierophant could do give a deep sigh and shake his head silently. "I'm sorry." he muttered quietly before not speaking another word.

**_"No...I should be. For dragging you two into the tournament..."_ **Even Illustria looked...mournful. **_"I never wanted this chaos to happen, no one did. But now I must do this...and I'm not sure if it will bring you two back to the innocents you once were. Forgive me."_ **

The entire room shook, and many screamed in fright as the ground suddenly opened up from beneath the two Arcane fighters. They let out a scream as they started to fall...

Only for Samus to grab the Magician's free hand at the last second. Mewtwo, Lucario, and Link all grabbed onto Samus, making sure she didn't fall along with the other two.

"Hold on, please!" Samus shouted. "Just hold on! We'll pull you guys out, I swear it!"

"No, Samus..._don't_." The Magician whispered quietly.

Samus' eyes widened with shock. "Why?" she asked hoarsely.

"...The Cagemaster knows what she's doing, and..." he paused for a moment. "Never mind about that. Samus...when I first came to this tournament, I told you before she and the Hierophant were the ones that saved me from death. Now the Cagemaster is saving me from my own madness."

"The only reason I could think of why she saved you was to twist you into a monster like her!" Samus responded. "She's not your savior; she manipulated you! She manipulated you and the Hierophant, and Sun, too, maybe even all the rest of the Arcane as well!" she paused before speaking quietly. "Let me pull you two out. Please. We can all work together. We can bring down the Cagemaster together!"

"...Together?" the Magician looked up at Samus again. "It would be nice, wouldn't it, Samus? If we were all together, and no one had to worry about dying or losing matches or...getting into all this chaos. That is true...right? And Samus?"

"Yes?"

"Was I good to you? Did I-" he choked on his words before asking, "Was I a good companion to you?"

Samus nodded quietly. "You're good enough to be yourself."

"Good enough to be myself." the Magician repeated. "That's...nice." he looked away from Samus for a moment. "One more thing."

He looked up to her with a small smile on his face before whispering two words.

_"I'm sorry." _

And he let go.

* * *

"NO!" the bounty huntress let out a yell, desperate to grab onto the Magician's hand again, but Lucario and the other two pulled her back. "No! I have to go after them; I have to-"

"Samus...it's too late." Link choked out, as if about to sob.

Samus looked at the spot where the open pit had been. It had closed up.

And for the first time during this twisted nightmare of a tournament, she cried.

* * *

**Author note: I think this is the longest chapter in the whole fic so far...**

**Anyway, now going to the topic of backstories, it looks like you guys want Sun next, so her backstory should be up by around chapter...18 at the latest? We'll see. Also, there will be a special backstory involving the Smashers and their experience around the beginning of the Cagemaster's tournament as well!**

**As always, reviews would be great, and now we have the complete order of backstories, so I might as well show it to you guys! (going in order from the beginning of the story) Death, Magician, Hierophant, Sun, Strength, Smashers, Devil, and the Cagemaster.**

**Hope to see you guys next chapter!**


	14. Tabula Rasa

**_14. Tabula Rasa_**

The feel of a soft blanket covering him and a fluffy pillow underneath his head was what he woke up to at first. The feeling of a body shifting about in bed right beside him was the next.

"...Hierophant?" The Hierophant blinked and turned his head to the right to see the Magician looking at him with concern. "You're awake?"

"Mmmhmm..." the Hierophant murmured quietly, blinking a few times. "Where...are we?"

The entire room wasn't huge, but it wasn't too cramped for them, either. The walls were white, the ground was white; heck, even the bed the two were lying in was white. They were clothed in white as well, and the two sat up in the bed and looked about quietly.

_**"Hierophant...Magician."**_The two froze at the sound of the Cagemaster's voice. _**"The two of you are not dead, which is quite obvious since I can still communicate with you. This place-"**_Illustria paused before speaking again, **_"This place is the domain of your own minds, your own inner selves. I've taken the time to...change some things while you two were fully unconscious. I was thinking quite carefully about what I should do with you two. I knew you were descending into madness; and that was the complete opposite of what I intended for the both of you in the tournament."_**

"Cagemaster?" the Magician spoke up quietly. "I hate to interrupt, but...why is our domain completely blank?"

_**"...I was thinking along the theory of tabula rasa, that everything is born as a blank slate and that as they grow up, they learn from the experiences around them."**_the Cagemaster explained. _**"I'm not sure if this is exactly what they meant; in fact, I highly doubt this is according to the theory."** _she paused once more before speaking again. _**"When I found you two...you were both on the verge of death; one, nearly stoned to death by their own people, and the other, full of remorse for what they had done and ready to give up their life. I-I didn't want that. I didn't want that...because I could still see that...innocent spark in the both of you. I wanted the both of you to keep that innocence, and to righteously cast judgement upon those that had hurt you. But all I did was twist the both of you. I couldn't-I guess-I guess I couldn't save you. This is my last try, and I know it just seems so desperate, but-"** _Illustria was heard choking back a sob. _**"I'm sorry! I couldn't-I couldn't-"**_

"Cagemaster. Just listen, please." The Hierophant spoke. "It's not your fault. It never was. All you wanted to do was...help the both of us. No matter what happens...just remembered that you tried your very hardest at what you were trying to achieve for us. Please remember that."

The Cagemaster was silent for a moment. **_"...Thank you...the both of you...I won't forget that. I only wish that when you wake; if you ever wake; that you won't have to suffer through this madness anymore. And I pray that wish will be granted. This...is probably my goodbye to the both of you. I don't know if I'll e-ever talk to you both again; or see you b-both again; but you were so kind and-and you were all so loyal and my beloved children; and I will always, always love you for it."_**

At the last statement, the Cagemaster's voice had faded away to nothing. The Magician lay back down on the bed, followed by the Hierophant. The two thought, before they looked at each other.

"Hierophant?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think Illustria will be okay?" The Magician snuggled into the other man's chest silently. The Hierophant let out a deep sigh as he stroked the Magician's hair with one hand.

"I only _pray_ that she will keep her _sanity_." he whispered quietly, before giving a soft kiss to the Magician's forehead.

* * *

"So...they're not alive, but they're alive at the same time?" Death asked.

The Cagemaster nodded sadly, wiping a tear with the sleeve of her cloak. **_"I wouldn't say they were...completely comatose, but...I don't think they're going to wake up. Not for a long time."_**Illustria choked back another sob before speaking again. **_"All of you Arcane. Leave. Please. Except for Death and the Devil."_**

Strength and the Sun exchanged glances with each other sadly, before leaving the hall.

The Devil glanced at the Magician and the Hierophant quietly. The two were lying in a bed, one of their hands intertwined with the other and their faces were turned towards each other. The two did look pretty together, the Devil admitted, and it was understandable of why Illustria would make sure the two were together like this. _Keeping the two apart would be too cruel already...at least for Illustria. She doesn't want them to be alone._

_**"I don't know what went wrong. All I wanted to do was...keep them innocent and alive and give them the right to pass judgement upon the ones that wronged them; and all I did was twist them into near insanity. What did I do wrong!?"**_

The Cagemaster collapsed onto her knees, sobbing. Death and the Devil both held their master gently, letting her cry for as long as she needed to.

Things were only going to get rougher from here.

* * *

"Link?" the Hero of Twilight looked up to see his princess walk into the lounge. "I...I heard about the whole fiasco...are you alright?" she asked.

Link embraced her tightly, before letting go and looking at her silently. "The Magician's gone." he muttered quietly. "Zelda...when I was looking about in the library; I caught a look at his past. I didn't know he went through...that." he whispered. The two sat down on the couch as he continued speaking. "All those townspeople...they were so cruel to him. No wonder he wanted to talk to me and all the other Smashers. He didn't want to be lonely. And all I did was be cruel to him; especially when I found out he was Lumos all along. And now's he's gone." he shook his head a little bit, putting his head in his hands. "Zelda...I never got to say goodbye to him, and he's gone."

Zelda embraced him quietly, and the two just simply held each other for a while.

Things were only going to get more complicated.

* * *

"Hey, Pit?"

Pit looked up to see Falco enter the room. "Hey." Pit greeted him quietly.

"Heard you broke your arm when the Cagemaster threw you." Falco spoke, sitting down in a nearby chair. "I...found this after the whole fiasco and stuff. I think you were holding it earlier and that you dropped it. I know the Cagemaster will probably be pissed with you and me if she finds out, but..." he held the book out to the angel. "History: Cagemaster Illustria. That was the book you were holding, right?"

Pit's eyes widened in shock. "That's...right!" he exclaimed. He grabbed the book with his free hand, before trying to open it. The aviator sighed before lending him a helping hand and opening the book to the first page. "Lucario and Mewtwo figured if we could find out about the Cagemaster's past; we can find out why the Cagemaster started this tournament!"

"Man, those guys are brilliant..." Falco trailed off. He looked around. "You think Illustria, I mean the Cagemaster, would be watching us though?" he asked cautiously. "She does have cameras pretty much all over the place."

Pit cringed. "I don't know...Illustria seemed really upset when the Magician and the Hierophant were sent into the Devil's Den. I don't think she would bother to watch us unless she's really angry. Either that, or she's mourning the two Arcane fighters..." he trailed off. "I really don't want to do this; but..." he sighed. "We have to know. This might be our only chance to find a way to shut down this tournament once and for all."

Things were only going to get more indistinct from here.


	15. Fiction and Fact

**_15. Fiction and Fact_**

Samus stared around the library silently, hoping to find the Magician.

There was no sign of the blond-haired Arcane fighter.

Samus sighed quietly, shaking her head. So it wasn't a nightmare that the Magician and the Hierophant had fallen into whatever the Devil's Den was. It was real, not fiction. Without thinking, she pulled a book from a nearby shelf and started to read.

* * *

_The entire room shook, and many screamed in fright as the ground suddenly opened up from beneath the two Arcane fighters. They let out a scream as they started to fall..._

_Only for Samus to grab the Magician's free hand at the last second. Mewtwo, Lucario, and Link all grabbed onto Samus, making sure she didn't fall along with the other two._

_"Hold on, please!" Samus shouted. "Just hold on! We'll pull you guys out, I swear it!"_

_"No, Samus...don't." The Magician whispered quietly._

* * *

Samus froze. What? What was this? Someone wrote a story about...this? Why?

"Samus?"

She turned to see Strength walk over to her. "I-I thought you'd be here." he started.

"What is it?" the bounty huntress asked, putting the book back on the shelf.

"Well..." The red and brown-haired man paused before continuing. "I need to tell you something important, and it's about the Cagemaster and the Devil." Samus' eyes widened a little in surprise. "I know they're probably going to kill me if word gets out about it, but the Cagemaster and the Devil are what you could call best friends...maybe closer. They met each other while you Smashers were fighting...that blue guy with rainbow wings and the Subspace. The two saw all of the chaos you guys were involved in, and saw all the destruction..."

"You mean this happened when we Smashers were fighting Tabuu?"

"Right." Strength responded. "The Cagemaster told me that the reason why she brought you Smashers here to the tournament. She thinks all of you guys are the worst examples of human beings and living creatures alike."

"Why?" Samus asked, shocked. "Why would Illustria think that? I don't understand..."

"She's...she's seen you guys beat each other down at times...sacrificing innocent lives for the sake of defeating an enemy...betrayed others for the sake of finding freedom...and she thinks it's all wrong. Or at least, that's what it seems like." he muttered. "To try to put this short, she thinks you guys are self-centered bastards that don't really deserve existence because of the stuff you guys did in the past."

"We're not bastards."

"I know that, but...it's just..." Strength shook his head. "I don't know how to ever convince the Cagemaster that you guys are not that sort of terrible human beings...not the sort of beings that would destroy a whole village in flames or stone someone for a crime they didn't commit. I just...don't know. But I had to tell you. If you can change her mind...maybe you can get out of this hellish place."

"I have to tell the others about this." Samus told him. "If all of us can join together and persuade the Cagemaster about this, all of us can get out. Maybe even the Hierophant and the Magician...if...if they're still alive." she ended lamely. "You have to help us. Please."

Strength let out a sigh. "Samus...you have no idea how loyal Death and the Devil are to Cagemaster Illustria. They're not going to go against her. Ever. Even if all the rest of us fight against the three...it's...it's really possible that they could destroy us. I just...I just don't know anymore..."

* * *

**_"Mewtwo...I've been expecting that you would storm up here eventually. What is it that you want?"_**

_"...I need to remember, Cagemaster."_

**_"Remember what?"_**

_"I need to rememeber that day when all of us Smashers were forced to be in the tournament. The very first day that you started this tournament, the day when you proclaimed Master Hand to be deceased and that you took control over us."_

**_"And why?"_**

There was a pause. _"I...just need to know. Please."_

**_"Very well then. I will help you remember that day. I think it's about time someone's memory was refreshed about that event...yes. It is time for that."_**

* * *

**Author note: Okay...yeah...this chapter...ugh...SO HARD TO WRITE! (takes a deep breath) Sorry about the delay in updates; I mean, I do have a life outside fanfiction after all. I'm sure all of us do, really. **

**I've decided to rearrange the backstories slightly, so we're going to have the Smasher's History next chapter, and then we'll have Sun and Strength and so on. Hopefully, I can get the Smasher's History up much sooner than this chapter...please be patient! Thanks!**


	16. History: Smashers

**_History: Smashers_**

"What the...wh-where are we?" Lucario heard Roy groan aloud as the aura pokemon's ruby-red eyes fluttered open. The last thing the aura pokemon remembered was that Tabuu and Subspace had vanished for good. He grinned slightly at that memory. At least the worlds that had been enslaved by Subspace were free.

But now...where were they? What was this place? All of the Smashers stared about. There were colourful, stained glass windows of every single Smasher high on the walls, and stained glass windows of six people that they didn't recognize. Majority of the Smashers then realized that there was someone standing a fair distance away from them, a person cloaked completely in black.

**_"Welcome, Smashers. I welcome you to this tournament. Your 'Master Hand' is dead, and I will be running this tournament from now on."_**a deep voice rumbled, and some of the Smashers shivered. _**"I am the Cagemaster. You will obey me. Any resistance will be...eliminated."**_

"Hold on a moment!" Captain Falcon was heard shouting. "You don't have any power us! And wasn't Master Hand still alive when we beat Tabuu-"

_"Falcon..." _Mewtwo interrupted. _"Master Hand was dead by the time Subspace was starting to collapse. It was death by those chains that bound him...and blood loss. The Cagemaster has a point about that...but..." _he turned to the Cagemaster. _"What right do you have to have power over us? Answer me!"_

_**"I would watch your telepathy if I were you, Mewtwo."**_The Cagemaster snapped. **_"I have every right to take over this tournament; to cast righteous judgement upon all of you defiler of innocents. I have seen you sacrifice innocent lives for the sake of destroying enemies, I have seen you break down each other bit by bit. And now your time has come to fight for your lives. No longer shall you depend on others to fight for you; you must fight for yourself."_**

As the Cagemaster spoke, six pillars of light appeared, three at each side of the Cagemaster, before fading to reveal six people. Each and every single one of them wore black cloaks like the Cagemaster, obscuring them completely.

_**"Allow me to introduce the highest rank of you fighters; the Arcane. Here we have first is the Devil." **_

The first figure at the far left threw off the cloak to reveal someone...something. It continued to change forms, from the Cagemaster to Mewtwo to Link and so on...Lucario had to look away, for the Devil was shift-shaping so rapidly that it hurt his eyes.

_**"Next, we have the Sun."**_

The figure to the right of the Devil threw off her cloak. Her long hair was a deep red, and she wore a dress of oranges and yellows blended ever so perfectly. She observed the Smashers quietly, not saying a word.

**_"Strength."_**

The figure between Sun and the Cagemaster threw off his cloak, and revealed a man with dark brown and red hair tied back. He was clothed with simple black clothing. He looked at them quietly with his dark eyes, also not making a move.

**_"Hierophant."_**

The figure to the right of the Cagemaster threw off his cloak. He wore robes of black and red, and his dark brown hair stopped right between his chin and his shoulders. His dark amber eyes leered at the Smashers, before his facial expression turned to slight disgust.

**_"Death."_**

The figure to the right of the Hierophant threw off her cloak. Some of the Smashers gaped at her. She had soft black hair, tied back in two pigtails. She wore a black dress with matching shoes. The look on her face was blank, as if she was bored.

**_"And last but not least...the Magician."_**

The figure did not throw off his cloak like the others; rather, he slowly slid it off and held it in one arm. He wore a white shirt with matching pants and shoes. His light blue eyes and facial expression seemed to be of nervousness, before it turned into a quiet, small smile.

**_"I have trained these fighters only a month before now, and they are more powerful than any of you. They will battle six of you to prove their power, and they will choose who they battle themselves. Go on, Arcane...choose. And choose wisely."_**

The Devil let out a cackle of delight and flew about the place. "**WhICH **_oNe!?_ **WH_ICH_ ONE _wi_ll iT bEEE?"** The Devil crowed. "I**_-I-I_** _se_**_e..._Hmm**..._YOU!" _

Pit let out a horrified yell as the Devil picked him up and dumped him where the Devil had once been standing. Immediately, a glass case fell from above and entrapped the angel so that he couldn't run away.

Death groaned. "I wanted to choose him!" she muttered quietly, walking towards the Smashers a few steps and looking at them carefully. "Oh well...okay, you." she spoke, pointing at Red. "Let's hope you give me some entertainment." Immediately, Red was teleported to where Death had once been standing and a glass case also captured him.

The Hierophant gave a sinister smile as he walked towards the Smashers as well. "Too many scapegoats, and they're so rude as well." he muttered quietly. "How pitiful. I think I'd like a darling pair of Smashers to go against me, and what better choice is there than you Ice Climbers?" he spoke, looking at Popo and Nana. Immediately the two were encased within a glass case as well.

Sun and Strength were quietly arguing about which ones they should choose. "I'm not sure, Strength. Mewtwo has psychic powers; the Cagemaster told us that earlier! And you know I don't like fighting anthromorphs!"

"Well, who else is there to choose, Sun? You don't want to battle the kids either!"

"Alright, alright, I'll just choose Peach. Happy?"

"...Yes." Strength sighed. "I choose Gannondorf, in that case." the two mentioned Smashers were encased within glass after the Arcane fighters had made their decisions.

The Magician peered at the remaining Smashers quietly. "I don't know." he finally spoke, his voice soft and his facial expression turning into one of thinking. "I'm not a great fighter, surely, and I really don't know who to choose but..." he looked at Dr. Mario. "Forgive me for choosing you." Dr. Mario was encased within glass as the Magician spoke.

**_"Now..."_**The Cagemaster paused as the Hierophant vanished suddenly, along with Popo and Nana. **_"As they say in some tournaments of other worlds...Let the games begin."_**

* * *

Popo and Nana stared around in shock. The two were on a large, circular platform, with a tall fence all around it. Outside the platform were crowds of people, screaming and cheering madly.

The Hierophant stood opposite them, looking at them carefully. "What would be one word to describe your relationship with the other Smashers?" he asked. "Are all of you close?"

"Well...yeah!" Popo responded, holding his mallet tightly. "All of us are! Sure, we get into disagreements at time, but we all work together and stuff!"

"Like family!" Nana added.

"Family." the Hierophant repeated softly. He smiled. "I believe family is a beautiful gift. But...it hurts when you have it taken away from you. It hurts very much. And I'm about to show how much it hurts." his smile turned into one of malice. Out of nowhere, swords appeared in both hands. "You lower ranks have no idea what it's like to lose family." he growled, his face turning into a snarl before he lunged at them.

Immediately, both the Ice Climbers dove out of the way, and the Hierophant ended up running into the fence. One of his swords got caught, and he struggled with it for a moment; only shakily sidestep a swing from Nana's mallet. He pulled the sword out of the fence, and swung both blades, missing the two twins by a hair. Popo swung his mallet, but the Hierophant once again sidestepped and swung his blades.

The mallets Nana and Popo held snapped in half. Both twins stared in shock, their eyes widening with fear.

"Sorry." the Hierophant whispered quietly, pointing his blades at them. "Your time just ran out."

And he swung the blades once more, blood spilling all over the ground.

* * *

The Smashers stared in horror as the corpses of Nana and Popo on the videoscreen that had appeared when the Hierophant and the Ice Climbers had vanished were dragged off the stage as the crowd roared. The Hierophant smirked, before vanishing off the stage and back into the room.

Death grinned as she and Red vanished, and reappeared on the screen, in the arena.

* * *

"D-don't kill me, please!" Red pleaded. "I-I don't know how to fight...I...I'm a pokemon trainer, and I've only fought with my pokemon before...I-I surrender!" he finished, throwing his hands up.

Death face-palmed. "Really? Really...wow. I should just go and kill you right now!" she exclaimed. "But...you surrendered. I suppose I'll make it painless for you."

Before Red could say a thing, he was decapitated, his head rolling onto the ground as the rest of his corpse collapsed.

Death grinned, her face and clothing splattered with some of the boy's blood. "Happy?"

* * *

The next to appear in the arena were the Sun and Peach.

"What are waiting for?" Sun just stood there, arms crossed. "Take your first move."

Peach didn't hesitate. Immediately, she grabbed her frying pan and lunged at the Sun. A snap of the fingers was heard, and the Toadstool Princess was hurled backwards from the searing flames and shot from the Sun's hand. Peach got up, ran at Sun, and whacked her in the face with the frying pan.

Sun gasped in shock, spit out blood, and her facial expression turned into a snarl almost like the Hierophant's own. She let out a scream and shot more flames at the princess, putting her dress on fire.

Peach screamed and started to beat at the flames as well as she could; but it was futile as her arms and the rest of her body caught on fire. Sun just stared at the princess, before snapping her fingers. The fire immediately died, and Peach collapsed, unconcious and scarred all over.

"I don't think I'll bother to do a finishing blow, Cagemaster..." Sun trailed off. "She seems defeated enough."

* * *

"Look. Let's get one thing straight before we fight." Strength spoke. "I don't wish to kill you. Alright?"

Gannondorf didn't respond. Instead, he ran at the Arcane fighter, charging up a Warlock Punch. Strength grabbed the fist that was aimed at his face, but Gannondorf took the opportunity to catch him in a headlock. Strength choked a bit before flipping Gannondorf, the Gerudo king falling to the ground. Gannon got up, before trying to aim for the other's neck-

_Snap._

The Gerudo King fell as Strength stood there silently, before speaking.

"I told you...I don't wish to kill you. Why didn't you listen?"

* * *

Pit leapt out of the way as the Devil lunged forward, trying to grab the angel.

The Devil sighed. _"THiS **isn'T woorrrkInG..."** _The Devil muttered, before changing into what seemed to be a clone of Pit, except clothed completely in black. "Okay, I think that's better. What do you think?" the Devil asked with Pit's voice.

Pit gaped at his 'clone' for a moment, before the Devil started shooting arrows at him. Pit rolled out of the way, before shooting arrows back at the Devil. The two continued this for some time, before Pit was grabbed by the Devil and thrown into the fence. The Devil seemed to have tons of energy, but Pit was getting exhausted...

The Devil then changed forms to the Hierophant, sword pointed at the angel's chest. "Goodnight." The Devil spoke with the Hierophant's voice before-

**_"Devil...that is enough."_**

"But Cagemaster-" the Devil started to protest.

_**"Enough."** _The Devil sighed, and changed back to normal form before dragging Pit out of the arena.

* * *

The Magician didn't dare make a move. Doctor Mario took out a few pills, before throwing them at the Magician lightly. Some of them hit the Magician's head while others missed him.

The Magician started shaking slightly. The doctor stepped backwards in fear as the Magician looked up at him with an icy cold glare.

"How...how dare you." the Magician spat out. "You're just like those townspeople...unforgiving little...bastards..." A knife appeared in his hand. "Sorry, _doctor, _but if you think you can throw pills at me all day, you made a mistake." he growled, before lunging.

There was blood.

* * *

Some of the Smashers stared in disbelief as the Magician returned to the room everyone else was in, his pure white clothing stained with scarlet liquid. The Magician didn't seem pleased with this, and he looked at his blood-covered hands before running to the Hierophant, who grapsed him gently in his arms.

"Hierophant...I'm not sure if I like this." the Magician was heard muttered softly.

The Hierophant gently stroked the other's locks of hair with one hand, before touching the Magician's cheek. "Remember, Magician...we are in the Arcane because of the Cagemaster, who has called us to eliminate those who have defiled the innocents...to eliminate those who defiled people like us." he glanced at the Smashers briefly. "We must not be weak in front of them at times like this...alright?"

Some of the Smashers stared as the Hierophant and the Magician locked lips with each other quite suddenly, and Link felt disgusted by the sight. These two people; Arcane, that had just killed two of the Smashers, were _kissing. _

"Disgusting." Link muttered under his breath.

The next thing he knew, he was slammed against the wall and the Hierophant held him up by the collar of his tunic.

"We. Are. **Not**. _Disgusting_." the Hierophant growled. "You're **more** disgusting than we are..._lower ranks_!" he threw Link to the side before wrapping an arm about the Magician's waist, the blond looking at the Smashers briefly, before the two walked back to where the Cagemaster and the other Arcane were.

**_"Do you see the proof of their power? This is why they are the Arcane..."_**The Cagemaster looked at the Smashers before pointing. _**"On the wall there, I have posted where you will all be sleeping and all of the rules to be followed. I have also posted what ranks all of you are in, from C to A rank. All of you, find your rooms and get some rest, and be quick about it."**_

* * *

Samus opened the door quietly, before her eyes widened with surprise.

This place wasn't her room, but it was most definitely a library.

She looked around, cautious. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to be in this place; she had only scanned through the rules quickly before going off to find her room. But...then again...who would restrict someone from reading in a library?

She heard a footstep, and she turned to see someone dissapear behind a bookshelf. Suspicious, Samus raised her arm cannon before she looked around the bookshelf-

And a gun was aimed at her face.

"What are you doing here?" the Magician looked fearful. "I swear, if you're going to kill me, the Cagemaster won't be happy about it!" he shouted.

"I won't kill you if you put the gun down!" Samus responded, lowering her arm cannon. The Magician sighed with relief before putting away his gun.

"Shoot...what's your name again?" the Magician asked. "I apologize; I was up all night trying to memorize all the Smashers' names and I fell asleep trying..."

"Samus Aran."

The Magician nodded, before smiling a little. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Samus." he responded. "You obviously know that I am the Magician, from the introduction the Cagemaster gave earlier."

"...There's something I don't understand."

"And that would be?"

Samus paused before speaking. "You just killed someone, and now you're smiling. I don't get it."

The Magician's smile faded slightly. "It's an unbreakable habit of mine from the past. I was taught to always smile when I'm in pain, as so not to let down the master." he responded. "I admit I didn't wish to kill Dr. Mario, but...when I'm in the arena, it's hard for me to stay merciful towards the opponent." he whispered quietly. He looked around. "The Hierophant is meeting me here soon; you have to get back to your room."

"Can't we talk more-"

"And _what exactly_ is going on here, Magician?" the two turned to see the Hierophant walk over to them. "Conversing with a lower rank at this time? You know the Cagemaster wouldn't like it." he spoke, giving a small glare at Samus.

The Magician walked over to the Hierophant. "She got lost." the Magician lied. "I was telling her where the girls were supposed to be sleeping."

"Don't lie to me." the Magician was whirled into the Hierophant's arms, his back against the Hierophant's chest. The Hierophant smirked as the Magician let out a soft whimper, before giving Samus another cold look. "Leave, lower rank. **Now**."

Samus didn't hesitate to leave.

* * *

"Poyo?"

"Huh?" Sun sat up on the couch as she saw a pink puffball enter the lounge. "Hey, you're supposed to be getting some sleep..." she trailed off.

"Poyo poyo."

"Can't find your room?" She sighed. "The boys rooms are down the hall. Just keep walking until you find the door with your name on it."

"Poyo poyo!" Kirby grinned.

"You're welcome. And my name is Sun, by the way." She spoke, smiling back. "Goodnight."

"Poyo!"

* * *

"And I'm telling you, this 'Red' had no nerve at all to fight, I swear!" Link overheard Death ranting to Strength as he walked into his room.

Link sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe it...not only was Master Hand and some of the other Smashers dead, he was being forced to be put in this tournament by whoever the heck the Cagemaster was. He prayed that Zelda, his princess, wasn't going to get killed. He would do anything to make sure that wouldn't happen, even if it meant that he would die.

He looked up and realized there was a dove, sitting on the windowsil.

"Oh..." Link trailed off. He looked at the window. "It must have flown in here from outside." he walked over to the dove, looking at it quietly. "Heh. You're lucky. At least you get to fly outside this place. I'm stuck in here like a caged bird." The bird chirped quietly in response. Link smiled a little. "I should give you a name if you're going to keep coming back. How about Lumos?"

The bird just chirped quietly in response.

* * *

Mewtwo sat on an armchair in the lounge, unsure of what to do. Right. So that's what happened on the first day of the tournament...so much for that memory trying to help. The psychic pokemon swore that he might get nightmares of that memory for the next while.

But then again...why did the Cagemaster stop the Devil from putting the finishing strike against Pit? Something was up about that. And there was also the time when Pit was invited to dine with the Cagemaster and the Magician as well...perhaps the Cagemaster saw Pit as a favourite early on?

If that was so, why?

* * *

**Author note: Finally, we have the Smashers' History! Yay! Also, this chapter is the longest in the entire fanfic so far!**

**Important Announcement: I think I'm going to take a little time off this fic. Why?**

**1. I have a Super Smash bros oneshot series I REALLY should be working on...**

**2. I'm getting nightmares about this fic. Seriously. I can imagine every scene where characters get hurt or killed, and that's not good...**

**3. Getting nightmares will give me a lack of focus on my fics, which also isn't good.**

**4. I only realized now that I've written tons of darker fics, so I'm going to focus a bit more on light-hearted stuff (such as the Super Smash bros oneshot series I mentioned in reason number one).**

**Yeah...those are my reasons... Don't worry, I'm sure the next chapter will probably be out by Halloween at the very latest. In the meantime, go ahead and read my other fics, and I hope you guys will be patient! Thanks!**


	17. Vision

**Author note: Okay, obviously I can't get myself to pause from writing this fic so easily, considering the chapter came up _now_. But I promise, people, I WILL get to work on the Super Smash bros oneshot series! Seriously! (It's just that I need to figure out which Smasher is going with which instrument and that can get highly annoying, considering there are approximately 30 plus Smashers, including Melee Rejects...aargh...) **

**Back to the fic! I haven't figured out where exactly I'll get Sun's backstory up, but I'm hoping for next chapter or so...anyway, enjoy this chapter in the meantime! Thanks!**

* * *

**_17. Vision_**

Pit walked down the hallway silently, thinking. He hadn't heard a word about Illustria for days, other than the fact that she was mourning for the Magician and the Hierophant. Besides that, she had gotten much stricter. Meals had started to become more meager, and the fights started so early that Pit had to get up at five in the morning to go and eat breakfast and warm up before his next battle. He was sure that this was punishment for trying to find her past, but he had no need to look through the library anymore.

After all, Falco had picked it up for him. The angel had read through the entire book, looking at every detail carefully. Unfortunately, the history only went up to before she even met any of the Arcane, except for the Devil. That didn't help...it didn't explain why Illustria would invite him for dinner or promote his rank. But at least he knew why she started this tournament.

_"You want to know why the Cagemaster favours you Pit, don't you?" _

The angel turned, terrified, to see a figure leaning against the wall, a couple paces away from him. The figure had long hair and a white gown that went past the ankles. Pit couldn't see the figure's face from the shadows of the dim hallway.

"Who are you?" Pit asked, taking a step towards the figure.

_"My name is of no importance. The matter that you are thinking of is."_

"What do you know about Illustria?" Pit was confused. Who was this person? Why did they seem so...knowledgeable? How did they even know his name?

_"The Cagemaster saw you as a favourite from the very beginning. You're the captain of an angel army, protecting Palutena from the dark Meusa. You're strong. And best of all...you reminded her of who she was. Before any of this happened. That's why she liked you."_

"You mean I remind her of the past her? How? She's no angel, that's for sure..."

_"Not in appearance. Mentality. Innocence. Sanity." _the figure responded, taking a step towards Pit. _"I never realized why until I took a better look at you...and gosh...is she ever right. Hate to admit it, but you remind me of me, who I was before the tournament."_

Pit saw the figure smile, and at that moment, he realized who it was.

"Magician? But...how!?"

The Magician was standing there, smiling ever so gracefully. However, his whole being seemed...transparent, like a ghost. _"Illustria doesn't know, but I'm able to take this form in my unconsciousness. The only thing is, I can't use it for too long...my power is weakening as we continue this conversation." _he whispered quietly. _"The Cagemaster liked you because you were an innocent sort of her, a sane sort of her. She desperately wishes for the sanity, mentality, and innocence she once had, and sees it through you. Your nature towards the other Smashers, the smile on your face...those eyes. How the Cagemaster rambled to me about your eyes." _he seemed to chuckle a little bit. _"I think she likes you a little more than just friendly terms, but I might be wrong."_

"What happened to you? Last time I saw you, you fell into the Devil's Den!" Pit exclaimed. "Don't tell me you're dead..."

The Magician shook his head. _"I am not, I assure you. The same goes the Hierophant. We were both sentenced to stay in the domain of our own minds, to gain back our sanity. I believe he and I will be asleep for a bit longer, so we cannot really...assist you, sadly." _he paused for a moment. _"You have to help the Cagemaster, Pit. Get her to listen to you. She sees you as her light in this darkness of a tournament..." _The Magician appeared to shudder, his appearance flickering. _"My power is weakening...I can't...hold on any longer..."_

"Magician? I have one more question, please!" Pit pleaded. "Why did you say that I remind you of the past you?"

_"I'll tell you that another time, if we ever meet again." _The Magician smiled one more time, a tear dripping down his cheek. _"Pit...save the Cagemaster. Save the Cagemaster and everyone, please..."_

Pit nodded. "I will."

With that, the Magician dissapeared entirely.

* * *

"Kirby?"

"Poyo?" The pink puffball sat beside Sun, the two in the garden.

"I'm glad to have you around, you know. I'm not sure if I could bear the tournament without you." she spoke quietly, patting Kirby's head. She sighed. "I need to talk to you about something. It's my past." she made eye contact with him. "Promise you won't tell anyone else about it?"

The puffball nodded in response. "Poyo."

Sun smiled a little. "Good. How about I try to put it in a story? Let's see..." she paused, taking a deep breath. "Once upon a time, there was a woman who had a deep love for the nature and the creatures of the earth..."

* * *

**Author note: Just thought while I type up the next chapter and/or the next oneshot in my series, you guys can answer some questions. Please answer them (though it's not necessary, it's really nice to have some opinions)! Also, I've decided to answer them myself, so you guys know what I think about the fic (my answers are in bold and italic).**

**1. Which backstory do you like the most so far and why? **

_**For me, it just has to be pretty much all of them so far...it shows how the each of them have their reasons for the tournament, for why they joined and why they have the current relations with the others as they do now.**_

**2. Which of the Arcane can you relate to the most (including the Cagemaster), and why?**

_**...I think I relate to pretty much all of them. Like Death, I can be pretty merciless at times. I can be disgusted with other people like the Hierophant when they complain about the smallest things while there are people out there that have worse problems. Like Strength, I really don't like killing in real life...and with the Sun, I like nature, too (just not when bugs are crawling near me or stuff like that). I change behaviours quickly at times, like the Devil. With the Cagemaster...it's like this inner hatred is unleashed towards the world (like 'Why the heck do we have wars in other countries and stuff?! It's not understandable...'), and I worry about my emotions getting out of control, too, so I try to keep a calm facade when my negative emotions are in the extreme.**_

**3. Which scene is your favourite so far, and why?**

_**Out of all of the scenes so far, I have my top three (in no particular order).**_

_**1. The entire chapter 16-'cause that's technically like the beginning of the story, even before chapter one. You can't really start a tournament without introductions, right?**_

_**2. The first scene with Magician and Samus (in chapter 2)- I still find it kind of funny that someone so gentle like the Magician can get along with Samus, a tough bounty huntress. And they practically bond over books and conversations about anything. I also liked how the Hierophant and Samus had this tension between them, and the Magician is sadly stuck in the middle.**_

_**3. The bathroom scene in chapter 6-this is where we actually hear someone other than the Smashers talking about the tournament, and I honestly felt bad that Lucario didn't know what to do. I mean, if I were in that situation, I woudn't know what to do if the Magician started tearing up...**_

**Okay, that's enough from me. So, hopefully I can get the next oneshot in my series up soon, and you guys can read that and my other fics while I take a quick break from 'Monster' (IF I can get myself to take a break...) Thanks for your reviews and patience, and for reading this fic, too!**


	18. Lament

**_18. Lament_**

The blue-haired swordsman sat on the ground in a small, dark room, thinking.

Ike was gone. Roy was gone. The two were like brothers to him, ever since he first met them. They had hung out together, pulled pranks on each other, and even fought over ice cream.

Those times were fun. But now, nothing seemed to be fun at all. And this twisted tournament, ruled by the Cagemaster, had taken his friends away, never to see the light of day again.

Marth picked up a match before lighting it. He then lit a nearby candle using the match, before blowing out the match and putting it aside.

He counted the lit candles as per usual. Twenty one candles.

Twenty one days. During those past twenty one days, the tournament had taken Ike and Roy away from him.

* * *

Illustria stared at the sleeping forms of the Magician and Hierophant, before letting out a deep sigh and looking away.

Sometimes, she still couldn't believe what she had done.

They were the Arcane, two of her **beloved '**children', and she had put them into this state. She knew that if she hadn't done so, the two would have been driven into insanity, and that would be much, much worse than death.

She still wished there had been some other way to save them. She wasn't sure if there was any other option.

* * *

Samus didn't get it.

Why?

Why did the Cagemaster have to do this? All because Illustria thought all the Smashers were selfish bastards? It wasn't true. It could never be true. Samus knew especially that the kid Smashers were no selfish bastards.

But what about herself?

She wasn't sure of that.

Samus kept killing Ridley all the time. Why? To avenge her friends' and her parents' deaths.

Samus left the Galactic Federation. Why? So she wouldn't have to listen to their rules.

Samus didn't dare trust anyone when she had first joined the original Smash bros. tournaments. Why?

She didn't think anyone would trust her at all.

Did that mean she was a bastard?

She didn't know.

* * *

**Author note: I know, I know, filler chapter...(sigh) I will get the Sun's backstory up soon, I swear.**

**ANNOUNCEMENT: This is a shoutout to all of the people that keep requesting things to happen in my story...****Please _don't_ request for such and such to happen in the story! It seriously makes me mess up the plot, and then everything goes haywire. And that's not good. So, please, just don't request anything to happen in the story, end of discussion.**

**Anyway, Sun's backstory should be up by Halloween at the latest (I hope), and in the meantime, you guys can read the fic I'm working on while I take a break from this fic, 'Warfare's End,' or some of my other fics. I hope you guys can be patient. Thanks.**


	19. History: Sun

**_History: Sun_**

The red-haired girl laughed as she swung from branch to branch on the tree, before perfectly landing on the verdant ground with both feet. She loved the forest. She loved hanging upside down in the trees, trying to imitate the voices of birds and tend to the creatures around her. And in return, the animals were so kind...

Of course, just because she spent time in the forest didn't mean that she spent time with her kind, too. She had friends, whom she hung out with after school, and a loving family. She was helpful towards others, and they were helpful towards her in return.

Everything seemed pretty perfect for her. Nothing could go wrong.

Until that day.

* * *

She had been playing with the animals, and her human friends too. Just a simple game of manhunt, really.

But during the game, that's when they realized the stench of _smoke_ kept getting more **inhaled** in their noses, that the flicker of _flames_ was getting **louder and louder**...

* * *

She found herself alone in the sea of flames.

"Hello!?" she screamed. "Is anyone out there!? Help, please help!" she shouted.

**_"PLEASE!"_**

She let out a final scream, before succumbing to the lack of oxygen and the abundance of smoke and flames. She fell to the ground, coughing.

She stared at everything around her. Everything and everyone was burning. Humans, animals, plants, ground.

She was **burning**. Her flesh blackened like ashes as the fire devoured her body.

Was she going to die here?

Would _no one_ come to help her?

_"Hold on!"_

She blinked open her eyes. Who was it-

_"I'm coming! Hold on, please!"_

Who was that voice? She didn't know this voice. It wasn't familiar...

_"I'm coming!"_

And without realizing until right afterwards, she was being carried out of the forest by strong arms that felt much like ice. The flames were gone. There was only her and the man that carried her.

Everything went black right there.

* * *

"Tell me you're awake. C'mon...please!"

She slowly blinked open her eyes, looking up at a man with dark brown hair with red streaks tied back.

He sighed of relief. "Thank goodness. I was worried..."

"Who are you?" She slowly extended an arm towards him-before stopping mid-reach.

Her arm. Pale like a newborn's skin.

She sat up quickly, staring at her arms before touching her face. Nothing felt charred or blackened. And her hair was the same shade of red as it always was. It was as if no flames had ever touched her skin before.

"How-" she started, but then the man cut in.

"The Cagemaster Illustria." he took a breath before he continued. "She healed your injuries." he paused again, before extending a hand towards her. "I am Strength of the Arcane. And the Cagemaster has declared you to the be Sun of the Arcane."

When she shook hands with him, she realized his hand was icy cold.

* * *

The Sun couldn't believe that some of these Smashers were animal-like. Falco, Lucario, Mewtwo, Pichu...these were creatures, animals. Different than the other species she had played with in the woods long ago, but still...

And then she saw Kirby's file, and knew what she had to do.

* * *

**_"And why should I not have Kirby participate in the fighting?"_**The Cagemaster's voice echoed in the room filled with stained glass pictures of the fighters.

"Cagemaster..." Sun paused before continuing. "Kirby is only a kid! He's the youngest of all the Smashers; he..." she sighed. "He's only a kid, practically a kindergartener if compared to a human. And...he's the most innocent of all the Smashers' files I've read." she looked at Illustria quietly. "You said that you _valued_ innocence. You don't want his to get destroyed like yours...right?"

The Cagemaster seemed to hesitate before speaking. **_"Perhaps you do have a point. Very well, then. Kirby will be in your care. But do anything to wrong me, and...he will be eliminated. Is that understood, Sun?"_**

The Sun just nodded quietly. "Yes, Cagemaster...I understand! _Thank you..."_

* * *

"...That's basically why you're not in those fights." Sun tried to hold back a few tears as she finished. "I couldn't let you get hurt, Kirby. There's so much...so much bad stuff. I just...I don't want you involved in those fights. Nothing good comes out of them."

"Sun?" The two turned to see Strength. The Arcane fighter looked completely out of breath.

"Strength? What's the matter?" she asked, standing up and facing him.

Strength took a deep breath before speaking. "It's the Magician and the Hierophant. They've gone missing. The Cagemastser's ordered us to search the whole place; even if it kills anyone. And...she's also found out that our histories are _missing_. Someone _stole_ them." he whispered the last two statements.

"Oh no..." Sun glanced at Kirby worriedly before turning to Strength. "One second. I'll be there soon." she spoke, before turning to Kirby. "Kirby." she whispered quietly. "There is an area over there. Go in there and lock the door behind you. There should be enough food and stuff for you there. Whatever you do, do_ not_ go out until I come back for you." she tried to hold back a tear, but they started streaming down her face. _"Promise me."_

"Poyo." Kirby held up a handkerchief before nodding in response. Sun smiled sadly and received the handkerchief, wiping a few tears before speaking.

"Good, Kirby. Go."

All she could do was watch as the puffball left her sight.


	20. Beginning of the Storm

**_20. Beginning of the Storm_**

"Meta, hurry-"

**"RUN!"**

_"They're coming!" _

"Hurry up!"

Meta Knight slammed the door shut as Marth, Fox and Mewtwo sighed of relief. Hiding in Fox's room would be best for now; the Arcane had already searched the place and turned up with nothing.

"That was too close..." the avian fighter trailed off. "What's going on out there?"

_"Aparrently the Magician and Hierophant have gone missing." _Mewtwo responded. _"All the rest of the Arcane have been ordered by the Cagemaster to find them. The Cagemaster also just recently found out that all of the Arcane's histories, including the Cagemaster's own, are missing. I don't understand who could have taken all of those histories without anyone noticing."_

Falco cringed slightly. "I took it."

Marth gaped at Falco. "All of the histories?"

Falco shook his head. "No, not all of them! Just...just one. Illustria's history. I gave it to Pit...aw, shoot..." Falco paced about the room, before stopping. "It's probably in Pit's room, unless Pit took it with him when the Arcane started searching...I have to find him."

"Are you crazy!?" Fox exclaimed. "They'll kill you!" He tried to block Falco, but the other just pushed him away a little bit.

Falco turned before he left the room. "Illustria recorded in her history that she saw Pit as her 'light' in this twisted tournament. I can't let her kill him because of that. He might be our _only_ chance of getting out of this tournament."

* * *

The jackal pokemon crashed through the doors, diving out of the path of several knives aimed at him. He tried to stand, only for both his paws to get pinned to the wall by two similar-looking knives. Lucario let out a yowl of pain, struggling to free himself as Death approached him.

"I'm going to ask you _one more time_..." The black-haired Arcane hissed, pointing a knife at Lucario's throat. "Do you have **any** of the histories?"

_"I'm telling you for the third time...I do not." _Lucario growled back.

Before Death could do or say anything else, the Devil appeared by Death's side, taking on the appearance of the Magician. "I checked his room." Devil spoke with the Magician's voice. "Nothing's in there."

"You got lucky." Death spat at Lucario, before she and the Devil left the room. The jackal pokemon continued to struggle to free himself from the knives; he knew he couldn't just hang here forever.

It wasn't long before a familiar figure entered the room, staring at the jackal pokemon in disbelief. Lucario couldn't help but stare back, unable to believe his eyes at who it was.

* * *

Samus crept down the hallway silently. She had to find Pit, or one of the other Smashers. She knew being alone wasn't going to be useful, and...

A voice interrupted her thoughts.

"No...I couldn't have...**no**..."

Strength.

Samus dashed into the lounge and saw the scene before her.

Strength stood, staring down at the bloody corpse of the plumber Mario, the red hat torn apart. He looked at Samus, the look in his eyes full of horror.

"I did it." Strength muttered quietly. "I actually _killed_ him." he cursed before he continued. "Samus...I swear I didn't want to kill him. I _swear_ it."

Samus could only sigh quietly before saying two words.

"I know."

* * *

Kirby sat at the table, eating a muffin. Sun didn't really seem very happy. That wasn't good. The puffball made a mental note to himself to cheer her up later, after she came back for him.

Before he could continue in his thoughts, though, a voice interrupted him.

**_"Ah, Kirby. Should have realized Sun would send you here."_**Kirby looked up to see Illustria, her hood down. Her colour-changing eyes looked at the puffball gently. _**"Do you have any idea of where the histories may be?"**_

Kirby shook his head/body. "Poyo."

**_"...You don't have any idea what I'm talking about, do you?"_**

"Poyo."

**_"I'll take my leave."_**The Cagemaster paused before speaking again. _**"Suppose Sun was right, after all, to make sure you didn't participate in this tournament."**_

The Cagemaster left right afterwards.

* * *

Two men crept down the hall, half-dragging half-carrying the Aura pokemon.

"We have to bloody _heal_ him!" One of the two spoke up. "We can't have him die from bleeding!"

"Well, we need a place to _hide_ him first!" The other hissed back. "Besides, it's not like his wounds are that bad!"

"...True." He kicked open a door. "Whoa. Looks like this is some shrine to the fallen fighters. Namely Ike and Roy."

"...Oh..." the other looked around for a moment. "I hope the guy using this place doesn't mind us staying here for a while. I just hope no one else finds us for the time being."

"That is also true. C'mon, we better start healing Lucario. Ready?"

"Yes."

* * *

**Author note: ...short chapter. I know. (sighs) Curse getting distracted with other fics I'm working on (namely 'Story of Evil' and 'Incarcerated')...**

**Hopefully I can get next chapter up by Halloween. In the meantime, I'm probably going to be working on other fics, so you guys can go ahead and read those, too! Thanks for your patience!**


	21. Struggle

**_21. Struggle_**

"Pit?" Falco looked around quietly. "Pit?" he called out again. The poor avian Smasher had been searching all the hallways and he hadn't seen any sign of the angel. He even checked the women's washroom in case Pit might have been hiding in there (who knows, maybe the Arcane wouldn't think of Pit hiding in a washroom meant for girls only). "Pit-"

Falco stopped, hearing a quiet scuffle. He grew still, taking out his blaster and listening for where the noise was coming from.

_"Shh, I hear someone!"_

_"Who is it?" _

_"Shush already!"_

Falco slowly approached the nearby door, before kicking it open and pointing his blaster at whoever it could be.

The Magician and the Hierophant stared back in horror. In the background, the avian Smasher could see Lucario, both his paws bandaged, but with some blood still seeping through.

Falco dropped his gun, shocked. "How..." he trailed off.

The Hierophant took a deep breath before his voice let out in a whisper. "It's a long story."

* * *

The Cagemaster charged at the blue-haired swordsman sword raised. The blades clashed, the clanging sounds resounding in the hall. Illustria jumped back as Marth took a swing at her abdomen, before he thrusted his sword forwards at her again.

He missed by a millimeter.

The Cagemaster let out a snarl, pausing for a moment.

"Your speed and agility are impressive as well as your physical strength." Illustria spoke, brushing back a lock of ravened black hair before she continued. "However...can you figure this out?"

The sword in her hand became a scythe, the long handle as black as her hair. She spun a few times, multiple copies of her appearing. Marth mentally cursed himself. He hadn't expected _this_!

**_"Guess which one of us is which!"_ **

The clones began to rush about the room, and Marth took out both his sword and shield in case any of them tried to lunge at him. Seemingly unnoticed by the swordsman, one of the clones rushed at him, scythe raised...

Only for the blade to get blocked by the swordsman's shield.

The rest of the clones vanished as Illustria jumped back. "Most impressive. Perhaps I should have put you at A Rank from the beginning, Marth Lowell. But then again..." the look on the Cagemaster's face was stern. "You had the nerve to assault me, when all you could have done was tell me where the histories are."

"I have no clue of where those books can be, for bloody goodness sakes!" Marth shouted back. _"I swear I don't have any of them!"_

* * *

"Let me try to get this straight. You two were stuck in your own minds for the past couple days?"

"Technically, yes." the Magician answered. "Illustria didn't want us to become psychotic like the tournament itself. She never wanted that. That's why she stuck us in the purest parts of our minds. We didn't think we would wake up that quickly, though."

_"Where do you think the Cagemaster is now?" _Lucario asked.

"Probably searching for the histories, still." the Hierophant replied. "You said that Pit had one of them, right?" he asked Falco.

"Yeah. The reason I was out there was because I was searching for him. All the rest of the Smashers are getting hunted down by the Arcane and getting killed. Illustria isn't happy because of all the histories being missing. But I only got _one_. Who got the rest?" Falco asked.

The Magician coughed a bit. Everyone turned to him. The Magician sighed quietly, took out his bag, and dumped the contents of it onto the ground.

"'History: Hierophant,' 'History: Magician,' 'History: Sun,' 'History: Strength...' There's even a history for the Smashers!" Falco trailed off. "You grabbed all the rest?"

The Magician nodded quietly. "I thought if I looked through them all, maybe I could figure out why the Cagemaster specifically chose us to be in the tournament as the Arcane. That was something I didn't understand..."

The Hierophant gently grasped one of the Magician's hands in his own. "It's understandable. I've been thinking about that, too." he glanced at the histories. "Since we're decently well hidden, suppose we should look at all of these?"

"Yes."

* * *

"I bloody killed someone." Strength muttered, sitting down on the nearest armchair. Samus stood near him silently. "Why did I forget the promise I made that I do not kill anyone unless I'm forced to?"

Samus paused before she spoke. "You made that pledge when the Cagemaster brought you into the tournament, right?"

"Yeah." Strength paused before continuing. "Like I told you, I never liked killing. But I've killed things since birth. I killed my own mother just because I was born into this world and-"

"Strength. Look at me." Samus spoke, gritting her teeth slightly. "It's not your fault that your own mother died when you were born! You know that your mother could have let you die in order for her to live, but she didn't. She wanted you to have the chance to live. She wanted that so badly for you, no matter what. Even if it cost her own life."

Strength put his head in both hands. "I just...I just don't know what to do anymore with all of this. I just don't know."

* * *

**Author note: Again, short chapter. (Ugh, I haven't written any chapters that are over 1000 words in a while! Aargh...) Anyway, Strength's History is next chapter! Hopefully I can get it up as soon as I can. In the meanwhile, can you guys answer 2 questions, maybe? I'll answer them, too (my answers are in italic and bold).**

**From chapter 17, question no. 2, I realized I forgot to mention the Magician. I feel like I can also relate to him because I have to keep a calm facade like him during tough times and I do like reading.**

**1. Favourite character in the whole fic? (including OCs)**

_**...Too hard to choose. I seriously, honestly cannot choose, so I'm going to have to say all of them for that reason.**_

**2. Favourite history so far?**

_**Personally, I'm going to have to go with the Magician for this one. This was also one of my favourite chapters to write, as I felt like it certainly explained the Magician's behaviour and his current relationship with the Hierophant.**_

**I guess that's enough from me. Hope you guys review! Thanks!**


	22. History: Strength

**_History: Strength_**

"Aah!"

The dark brown-haired boy of ten years fell to the floor from the force of his father's punch to the face.

"You pathetic excuse for a son..."

"Father, stop it please!" the girl begged the older man.

The father walked out of the room, muttering "Pathetic just like your sister..."

The girl ran to her older brother. "Are you alright?" she asked him, helping him up. The boy nodded, before sighing quietly.

"I don't get it, sister..." he paused before he continued. "But he has a point. I'm not...I'm not strong, and-"

"Brother, you're stronger than anyone else!" the sister protested, shaking her head. "You're stronger than anyone in the world! And..." she paused for a moment. "I don't think strength means just...you know, lifting heavy stuff."

The brother chuckled a little bit, touched by his sister's exclamation. "Thank you..."

This scene was so common between the two. Father would expect far too much, get angry, and he would take it out on the son. In the meanwhile, the mother would be getting herself drunk or going off with other men, not caring a thing about the family. The younger sister would comfort the son, and try her best to keep his hopes up, because she believed he would be a very strong person someday.

* * *

The years passed by.

The brother and sister grew up. No, they didn't just grow up, they grew closer to each other too, supporting each other during the years of abuse.

The mother died of drug overdose. No one went to her funeral.

The father remarried; now they had a stepmother. And just like in the fairytales, she was wicked. And she wanted the sister to be the heir to the father's fortune, not his 'pathetic excuse of a son.' Even if it meant killing.

* * *

"Stepmother?"

The woman looked at the seventeen-year-old boy, who had asked for her.

"May I have an apple please, stepmother?" he asked quietly.

"Ah..." the stepmother gazed at a nearby box. "My eyesight is terrible, go look in the box for me, dear son..."

The boy opened the lid of the box and looked in there. As he continued to look, the stepmother slowly took out a cleaver from a drawer and poised the blade above the boy's neck...

_"LOOK OUT!"_

The sister's scream made the brother turn and grab the stepmother's wrists before the blade could cut down any further. The two grappled for a bit before the brother pushed the stepmother away and ran back towards his sister's side.

"Stepmother...why!?" the boy gasped. "Why did you-"

"The fortune does not belong to you; you pathetic excuse of a son!" the stepmother screamed, a mad look partaking in her eyes. "It does not belong to you!"

She charged at the two, ready to kill. The brother pushed the sister out of the way, narrowly missing a blow to the head before grappling with the stepmother again. The stepmother tried to stab the boy again, but the boy slapped it out of her hands, the cleaver spinning high into the air...

Before dropping right into the older woman's head and splitting it open with a loud crack. The dead woman collapsed to the floor, blood seeping from her body.

Both the brother and sister stared in horror.

"Brother...what are we going to..." the sister didn't know what to say.

"Father...he won't forgive us..." the boy trailed off. He turned to her. "We have to flee."

* * *

They fled far from the village and into the forest. It wasn't easy to provide for themselves in the forest at first; it took them time to get used to their surroundings, but they eventually figured it all out, and everything was going smoothly. Unfortunately, the two forgot one thing.

Every spring was hunting season.

* * *

The gunshots echoed through the forest, and the girl and the boy were outside, having just finished lunch.

"Sister..." he looked around quietly. "We should probably get back to the cabin. It's not safe out here with all the hunters about..."

The sister nodded, the two about to leave when-

The girl fell, blood dribbling out of her torso.

**"Sister!"**

The older brother caught her before she hit the grassy ground. "No...no...hold on, please!" he begged her. "I can get you to the cabin and-"

"Brother..." the sister shook her head quietly. "No...there's nothing you can do for me. It's...it's alright. I'll be okay..." One of her bloodied hands touched his face quietly. "You're...you're always...the _strongest_. Stronger than anyone else...stronger than _anyone_ in the whole world to me! _Please_...remember that."

"I promise." he whispered quietly.

And with that, her eyes closed, and she breathed no more.

* * *

He buried her in the same place where she died, carving a gravestone out of a rock he dragged from the nearby creek.

And years passed by, lonely and forgotten entirely.

* * *

A knock on the cabin door caught him by surprise.

He opened the door, to see four people. One was a man, with dark brown hair that almost hit his shoulders. Another was a girl with long, black hair tied into two pigtails. The third was a figure with hair of raven black and eyes of gold, and the same went for the fourth, except her eyes were forever changing colours.

"Good sir," the color-changing-eyed person spoke. "My companions and I are lost in these woods. Perhaps you could lend us some direction, or a place to stay for the night?" she asked.

"Why, sure...come in." the man, now twenty-five years of age, answered. "I don't mind company."

* * *

After the five had eaten their supper, they conversed for quite some time. The man learned their names to be Hierophant, Death, Devil and Cagemaster Illustria. They were looking for new people for their tournament, and in the process, had ended up lost in these woods.

"Did you always live in these woods?" Illustria asked quietly.

The man shook his head. "No. I have been living here for the past eight years. I fled the village with my sister from my father's abuse and stepmother attempting to kill us."

"Can you...explain to me a bit more about it? If you don't mind?"

With that, the whole story came gushing out. From his father's abuse, to his sister's death, all of it came.

* * *

Just as he finished up telling of his past, however, the Devil suddenly stood, facial expresion filled with confusion.

"I smell smoke." the Devil hissed quietly. "Something's wrong."

The man looked out the window.

He saw flames.

"Fire." he spoke quickly, before shouting, "FIRE! We have to get out of here! Everyone, quickly!"

* * *

Just as the five got out of the woods, they heard screams, echoing through the flames devouring the forest. The screams were pained, full of horror and desperation.

"I have to go back." the man spoke quietly. "I have to help whoever it is..."

Before Illustria could even shout, "Wait!" the man ran back into the sea of flames.

* * *

"Hold on!" he shouted, trying to reach the burning woman. "I'm coming; hold on, please!"

Closer...closer...

_"I'm coming!"_

He scooped her up in his arms carefully, and ran out of the woods as fast as he could.

* * *

The man collapsed at the Cagemaster's feet.

"Please, you have to help her!" he begged Illustria. "Heal her, please! I'll do anything, just help her please!"

Illustria paused before she spoke, getting down on a knee to the charred woman's form. "I will." Illustria looked up at the man. "I've been watching over her for the past while. It is terrible for someone as good as her to be destroyed by these flames of sufering. I will heal her."

Before anyone else could do a thing, the woman was healed instantly. The burns vanished, replaced by skin as soft as a newborn's own. She looked perfectly healthy, as if she was only sleeping.

Illustria looked up at the others. "We must get her somewhere comfortable. We must go back to the tournament headquarters I constructed earlier..."

* * *

He stayed by the woman's side the entire night, just simply sitting in a chair by her bed. Why?

He just simply wanted to make sure she was alright. Nothing more or less.

* * *

It felt weird, once being alone and now being alongside others. Death, Devil, Hierophant, Illustria, and the woman Illustria now called the Sun...however, it was nice to have companionship now.

**_"What your sister meant by you being the strongest...she didn't mean physically. She meant...here."_ **Illustria pointed at the man's heart. **_"And indeed, I must agree. For henceforth, you shall be Strength of the Arcane."_**

* * *

"You saved Sun's life, Strength." Samus told Strength quietly. "You saved her because you have a strong enough heart to do that, even though you didn't know her personally or biologically. You're strong, and you know it."

Strength nodded quietly, getting up from the armchair. "Yeah." he spoke quietly. "Maybe you're right." he started to leave the lounge. "Come on. We have to help everyone else, too."

* * *

**Authors note: So, that wraps up Strength's History!**

**Also, I'm putting up a list of who's dead so far, so you guys can keep track (thanks to Frozen Dewdrops for requesting that).**

**Dead: Dr. Mario, Bowser, Gannondorf, Red, Ice Climbers, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Mario, Peach, Ike, and Roy. **

**Total Smashers dead: 12**

**Okay, next chapter should be up soon. Please review, and thanks so much for your patience!**


	23. Traitors

**_23. Traitors_**

"I swear I didn't take any of the histories!" Marth shouted.

Illustria looked at Marth silently, skeptically. "Really?" she asked, circling him like a wolf does to its prey. "Do you truly mean so, Marth? Because if you dare lie, I'll-"

"He tells the truth." the two turned to see the Magician, standing not too far from them. The Arcane fighter looked sad, and he held a book in his arms. "It wasn't him. _I did it_." he whispered quietly.

"How-" Marth started, but Illustria started to take a few, trembling steps towards the Magician.

"Magician..." Illustria looked completely shocked. "Why?"

The Magician held out the book to Illustria. "I'm sorry. I was too curious for my own good, Cagemaster. I...scavenged from the library and took all the histories. I needed to know. I needed to know so badly. I'm sorry." The Magician was trying his hardest to smile a bit and to restrain himself from sobbing, but a few salty tears escaped his eyes and dripped down his face.

Marth knew despite the look on the Magician's face and the carefully crafted words, that he was lying about something.

Someone must have stolen the histories, and it wasn't the Magician. All of the histories, except for the one he held in his arms and now was extending towards the Cagemaster, that is.

But...who else would have taken the histories besides the Magician?

* * *

Mewtwo knew, from reading Marth's mind, that the swordsman had misinterpreted completely.

And things weren't going to go so well as the Magician hoped as a result.

* * *

The Cagemaster looked at the Magician so quietly, before running to him and embracing him tightly. The Magician, seemingly shocked, dropped the book to embrace his master.

"_Don't...scare me like that_." Illustria whispered quietly, looking up at the Magician. "You have no idea how much the Arcane and I were looking for you and the Hierophant. Just...please. Don't scare me like that again."

The Magician hesitated before he embraced her a bit tighter, rubbing gentle circles into her back and holding her close. This reminded him too much of the nights when he suffered nightmares of the Smashers he killed in battle. The Hierophant would hold him just as closely, just as tightly.

The Magician paused before he spoke again. "I'm sorry. I needed to know so much. About you, and...the rest of the Arcane. I thought I could figure out why you chose me and the rest of the Arcane for the tournament, and..." he paused again before he continued. "I caused so much trouble for you, Cagemaster. I'm sorry."

"It's understandable that you would get so curious." the Cagemaster replied quietly, letting go of him. "Where are the rest of the histories?"

The Magician made a bag appear out of nowhere and rested it onto the ground beside Illustria's history. "They're all right here, Cagemaster."

"Good." before Illustria could speak anymore, Marth spoke up.

"He's lying to you." the two turned to look at Marth with facial expressions of disbelief. "He's lying! He's not the one that stole the histories. He's covering up for someone else."

"You lie!" The Magician shouted back, trembling slightly. "I **did** take the histories! I took them all. And **now** they're here and I've returned them to her."

"My children would** never** betray me." Illustria hissed quietly, shooting a cold glare at the swordsman. "I know them well enough that they wouldn't dare do that unless it was for some dire reason of importance to them."

"Think about what you just said!" Marth shouted at Illustria. "Unless it was for some dire reason of importance to them. He's covering up the truth because the reason is important, I bet, and he doesn't want you to know what it is!"

_"JUST STOP IT!" _the three turned to see Falco, who was shaking his head quietly. "Look. I took Illustria's history. But the Magician took all the rest. That's all."

_FALCO, NO! _Mewtwo was heard screaming in the avian Smasher's head, but Falco continued to speak.

"We had to know, Cagemaster. All of us Smashers. You can't hide anything from us anymore, so give it up!" Falco shouted, pointing his blaster at the Cagemaster. "You can't hide behind your cloak or your Arcane anymore. You'll have to fight for yourself if you want to win over us!"

Illustria was silent, but the Magician could sense that something was definitely wrong now. "C-Cagemaster?" the Magician asked quietly, concerned. "Are you alright-"

**_"HOW COULD YOU!"_ **The Magician was blasted backwards by the Cagemaster, the Arcane landing on the ground. **_"How could you...you traitor! All of you...how could you betray me!"_ **Illustria screamed. **_"I trusted you, and this is what I get!? All of you Arcane have betrayed me. Except for..."_**

"Get away from him!" Marth shouted, rushing at the Cagemaster with his sword raised-

Only to be blocked by Death, who blocked the blade with a sword of her own. The black-haired girl gave a sharp glare towards Marth before pushing him back roughly.

**_"All of you have betrayed me. Except for Death, and Death alone."_**

The Cagemaster, now in her cloaked form, gave a glare towards the Magician and the Hierophant, who had run over to the Magician while the Cagemaster had been speaking. Slowly, the Cagemaster's eyes began to glow a deep crimson, and she pointed a finger at the two. Instinctively, the Hierophant wrapped himself about the Magician, prepared to take the full brunt of the attack...

And the Devil leapt in front of the two, just as the attack struck.

The three went soaring back into a nearby wall, the bricks and rubble collapsing about them. Samus, who had entered the room and saw this, instinctively ran over to them.

"Magician? Hierophant? Are you two alright?" Samus asked, terrified. She had only found out moments ago from the Sun that the two were alive, and had stolen the histories...and now, to find them like this...

"We're fine." the Hierophant rapsed. "The Magician and I are fine, Samus. Help the Devil...she..." he trailed off, before coughing a bit as he struggled to sit up. The Magician helped him sit and lean a bit against the wall for support before he looked at Samus.

Samus then realized that it was the first time the Hierophant had ever called her by name.

"I'm sorry." the Magician whispered quietly. "I'll explain...later. Just help the Devil, please..."

Samus nodded quickly before she turned to the Devil. And her eyes widened. Not at the amount of injuries, but that she was in a different form than Samus had ever seen her as before.

Her hair was a dark black, as black as Illustria's hair, and her eyes were a shimmering gold. Her skin was slightly sun-kissed, and the clothing she wore was simply a black blouse and dress pants with matching shoes. The Devil had a cut on her forehead, and her torso was dripping blood. She was trying to put pressure on the mortal wound; trying to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't working.

Samus knew she had to act fast. Otherwise the Devil might actually die.

The Devil stared at Samus quietly. "Why?" her voice came out in a rasp. "Why are you...here? You never..." she coughed a few drops of blood, unable to speak anymore.

"I'm going to help you. Just...just hold on, please..." Samus trailed off, looking at the wounds carefully.

"No." The Devil shook her head. "Help her. Help Cagemaster...Illustria. Please."

"But-"

"You have to." The Devil took another deep breath before speaking. "I can heal...a little bit. You have to help the Cagemaster, please...She's...she's the only person closest to me that I really have left. Please."

Samus stared at the Devil. The look on the Arcane fighter's face was so full of seriousness, so full of desperation that it made the bounty hunter want to tear up on the spot.

She couldn't. Not now. She had to help the Devil, as well as the Cagemaster.

Otherwise, no one was going to survive this twisted tournament.

* * *

**Author note: ...Ugh. Just...ugh. This might be my worst chapter...It was so difficult to write! AARGH! **

**The Devil's History is next, so hopefully that should make up for this somewhat-crappy chapter. **

**Also, I've started a new multi-chap fic called 'Rebirth,' and that one is a lot more light-hearted than this fic. I'm doing it for the TAF: Challenge Edition thing, and check it out! :)**

**I hope that you guys liked this chapter, and that you review, too!**


	24. History: Devil

**_History: Devil_**

She was a sort of perfectionist, willing to please others. Any challenge that was thrown at her, she would try her best to accomplish and perfect. She didn't want any mistakes. People knew this, and used it against her in the worst of ways.

Little did they know was that they were unknowingly creating a demon that would send them to their deaths.

* * *

_"I did it."_ The golden-eyed girl surveyed the scene, a wide grin plastered upon her face as she put the cleaver to the side. "I'm finally_** free**_." She wiped the cleaver clean of the life-giving liquid using a nearby towel, discarding the towel onto the table afterwards.

Corpses of the people that abused her littered the cold ground in a way that the girl described as **artful**. If it wasn't artful, the blood and the split limbs wouldn't look very good, would they?

Those people _deserved_ it, after abusing and mistreating her for so long...They would force her to display her talents for others, using all the money for themselves and beating her if they thought they didn't make enough money.

The girl took one last look at the corpses, grabbed the cleaver and put it in her backpack, put the backpack of supplies on her back, grasped the handle of the case of the precious violin that she had used over the past years, and walked out the door.

* * *

She continued to travel, playing her violin whenever she wanted and doing whatever else she wanted to do.

She grew up, making a living for herself. Life was alright now, but...something was missing.

She just didn't know what it was, until she met _her._

* * *

The golden-eyed girl had simply been playing the violin late at night, in the forest.

When she finished her piece, she heard the sound of clapping. She turned, to see a black-haired girl who stopped her applause as soon as she realized she was spotted. She started to turn-

"Wait!" the golden-eyed girl exclaimed. "I...I don't mean any harm towards you, kid...Don't run away!"

The other girl paused, before taking a few paces towards the golden-eyed girl. She hesitated before she spoke. "I haven't...seen you around here before." she spoke quietly. "That was a...a pretty piece."

The golden-eyed girl walked over to the black-haired girl, patting her on the head. "Thank you for being such a good audience." she spoke in response. "Do you live around here?"

The black-haired girl shook her head, before pointing backwards. "Village..." she paused for a moment, glancing back. "I need to get back before my masters realize my abscence."

The golden-eyed girl then noticed that the girl had a few bruises on her face. "Do your masters...do they hurt you?" she asked, trying to confirm her suspicions.

The other girl nodded quietly. "If I make a mistake or something, they go and hit me."

"I...see..." the golden-eyed girl paused. "I will see you again soon, girl. That, I promise."

"Okay..." the other girl paused before she asked, "What's your name, anyway?"

The golden-eyed girl just smirked a little. "They call me the **Devil**."

* * *

There was so, so much blood everywhere when the Devil ran into the masters of the black-haired girl she met in the woods. _So much blood._

"Come on!"

"Where? Where are we going?" the girl asked as she and Devil ran.

"Far away from those that hurt you, that is."

* * *

The two bonded as they traveled. They grew closer. The Devil even played the violin numerous times for the girl, something that the girl enjoyed immensely.

The Devil named the other girl Illustria during their travels. That was what the Devil first thought of when she realized the girl didn't really have a name at all. The Devil even discovered that the girl's late masters had experimented on her, and given her these odd abilities as a result. The abilities to shiftshape, telekinetic power, and so, so much more.

"I wish to start a tournament." Illustria spoke after she had given the Devil the ability to shiftshape. "A tournament to destroy a certain organization of monsters known as the Smashers."

"Smashers?" Devil asked. "Who are they?"

Illustria looked at the Devil with her colour-changing eyes. "They are hailed as heroes, but...they have sacrificed innocents for the sake of destroying their enemies. They have brought each other down. I heard of them through the chatter of my old masters."

"Interesting." The Devil responded. "Please, do continue."

"I will be the one running the tournament, and you can help me. Perhaps I can divide every fighter into ranks..." Illustria paused for a moment. "To bring division among those Smashers so that they will be willing to destroy each other, in a pitiful attempt to reach the Arcane, the highest rank. And you can be in the Arcane, Devil."

"Yeah, that could work...and you will be the Cagemaster of this tournament." The Devil was smiling inwardly. Illustria had a great idea to destroy these Smashers. "But, the thing is, we need more than just me in the Arcane. It seems kind of weird with just me, don't you think so?"

"True." Illustria responded. "Devil...I think we have some work to do."

* * *

They were able to find the rest of the Arcane quite quickly.

Death was the first they found. Betrayed by the man she loved, she was willing to wreak havoc upon the world by acting by her title of Death; merciless, ruthless, and a sure bringer of death.

Hierophant was the next one. Through complete fear of murder by a monster he destroyed; and then mass-murdering at least half of the townspeople in a village, he was ready to commit suicide. If it wasn't for Illustria interfering, he would have kicked the bucket.

Strength and Sun were after him. Illustria and the rest of the Arcane had resided at Strength's cabin in the woods, only to have to get out of the woods due to a fire. Strength had even rescued Sun from the fire, and Illustria knew that these two were certainly strong ones, and perfect for the Arcane.

The very last one they chose was the Magician. Not because of strength, not because of fear or jealousy, but by the innocence he seemed to emit. He had been unrightfully stoned by the townspeople from the same village the Hierophant had used to live at, and it would be wrong to leave the Magician to die.

* * *

The Devil stared at the files of the Smashers. Some were truly greedy and ruthless, but others seemed a bit more tragic. But, as the Hierophant quoted, "They have no sense of the real world and what they've destroyed, and no sense of what it's like to lose family. They deserve it."

The Devil noted the other Arcane's reactions. Sun seemed awfully concerned for Kirby, and even persuaded the Cagemaster to let him not be a fighter in the tournaments. Strength seemed quite mortified at the fact that he might have to kill some of these Smashers. Death was happy that she would get to exact bloodshed upon the Smashers, and the Hierophant also seemed quite estatic, though he didn't show it too much towards the Magician. He and the Magician were lovers, after all, and he didn't want the Magician to get too scared.

The Magician's reaction was something much like Strength's own reaction, except slightly different. He didn't seem to want to kill, like Strength, but he seemed quite willing to obey the Cagemaster's command. Devil figured it was mainly due to the fact that he had been a servant in the past and that he enjoyed his job of serving others.

* * *

When the tournament started, the Devil was more than pleased to go up against Pit Icarus.

The fight was lovely; Pit was a great opponent, but...

The Cagemaster _never_ let her give the finishing blow.

The Devil didn't understand why, until _much_, much later...

* * *

The Devil coughed slightly as she gazed at the Cagemaster in the distance, fighting the rest of the Smashers and some of the Arcane. She wasn't sure if Illustria was going to win, but now all the Devil was hoping was if Illustria even survived this fight. Sure, Death was fighting alongside Illustria, but it didn't make it easier against the Smashers, Sun and Strength combined.

"Samus?" the bounty hunter turned to the Devil. "Just go. Stop the fight. Please." the Devil whispered quietly. "Magician, Hierophant and I are fine...we will be..._just_..." the Devil coughed again, choking up more blood.

"But-" Samus started.

"Samus." the calm voice of the Magician spoke up as the Devil's vision became hazier. "The Hierophant and I can help the Devil. Just go. Help the Cagemaster."

Samus just nodded, before rushing into the battlefield.

The Devil grinned weakly as the Hierophant and the Magician started to patch up the wounds as best as they could. She was sure the wounds would heal.

The only thing was, she wasn't sure if the wounds would heal fast enough for her to run into battle and help her beloved Cagemaster.

If she couldn't...she would never be able to play the violin for her again.

* * *

**Author note: ...I tried to portray how the Devil and the Cagemaster met...I'm not sure if this turned out too well. It might be one of the most difficult histories (besides the Cagemaster, I bet. It's going to be difficult to write hers as well). **

**Again, reviews would be well appreciated, and thank you guys so much for your patience!**


	25. Trying to Stop

**_25. Trying to Stop_**

Death and Sun faced off against each other as many of the Smashers tried to take down the Cagemaster at the same time. Marth had been thrown into a wall, Fox ended up breaking his leg again, and Lucario's defensive aura was getting weaker as the Cagemaster continued her horrific advance.

Samus had tried to use her arm cannon to shoot the Cagemaster, but Death was doing everything she could to disarm the other fighters and protect Illustria from too much harm. As long as Death was still up and fighting, there was no way one was going to get major damage on Illustria.

The bounty hunter ducked as Illustria sent a beam of light straight at her, hitting Wolf instead of her original target. The anthromorph was smashed into a wall and he slumped onto the floor, unconscious.

The group of Smashers was slowly dwindling. Only a couple remained, and they too were slowly getting weaker. Nothing seemed to throw off Illustria...

Until she was tackled by Pit, the two rolling across the ground and grappling with each other. The angel seemed determined to restrain her from doing any more harm to the Smashers. Death was about to run over to the Cagemaster to help her, but-

**_"Leave me be!"_ **Illustria shouted, punching Pit in the face. **_"Focus on getting the others, Death! Now!"_**

Samus shot at Death, hoping to hit her. Death immediately ducked, before leaping at the bounty hunter with her daggers raised. Samus blocked it quickly with her arm cannon, and the two realized the danger much too late.

Death's daggers had embedded themselves into the Arm Canon of Samus' Power Suit.

Both fighters' eyes widened in shock as the Arm Canon sparked for a moment, before it let out an electric current. The two howled in pain, screaming as the electricity ran through their veins and sparked them aflame.

Snake immediately realized the situation and started to try to pull the daggers out of the Power Suit. He knew that he wasn't the best against electricity, that he should have just left this up to Lucario or Mewtwo; pokemon with aura and psychic defense, but he had to help them both.

As Snake finally pulled the daggers out of the Arm Canon, the electric current stopped. Death and Samus both collapsed, and Snake soon afterwards.

Strength approached Death, checking her pulse, before sighing quickly with relief. The girl was still alive. Close to unconsciousness, but alive nonetheless.

"Strength?" Strength looked at Death's tired, battle-worn face. She appeared to be glancing at Snake and Samus for a moment, before making eye contact with Strength. "Help them...please."

The girl fell limp in his arms. Strength didn't know what to do. He froze up.

And he started sobbing, holding Death in his arms as carefully as he could.

* * *

Pit and Illustria continued to wrestle with each other, scratching, punching, kicking.

All the other Smashers went still, watching the fight.

And then Illustria was pushed backwards, weakened by a blow to the face.

Pit drew his arrow, before letting go.

And the arrow pierced through Illustria's chest completely, and the Cagemaster fell.

* * *

Pit dropped his bow and arrow, before running to the fallen Cagemaster.

"Cagemaster!" Sun was also heard screaming desperately, also running towards the Cagemaster as Pit knelt by Illustria's side. "No, Cagemaster! No!"

"Illustria?" Pit asked quietly. "Can you...hear me?" He felt so hesitant to ask anymore. He didn't even know if Illustria was even still awake.

Illustria opened her eyes quietly, letting out a gasp as if trying to breathe. "Pit...why?" She asked quietly. "Why did you...my light...why did you come back like this? After hurting me? Is it to get sympathy for your previous action of killing me?"

"Kill you?" Pit asked, shocked. "No, Illustria-"

She silenced him with a quiet look. "Tell them all my history, Pit." Illustria spoke quietly. "You know it."

"How did you know-"

"I knew that Falco took my history the day you, Mewtwo, Lucario and Samus tried to ransack the library, amist all the chaos...I didn't do anything because I knew my reign was unraveling, no matter what precautions I took. My story will end in a matter of minutes. But yours, yours and all the rest of the Smashers and the Arcane...those stories will continue." Illustria paused before speaking again. "Tell them my history, Pit. Tell them of how I started this twisted tournament...of my true goals."

All Pit could do was nod in reply before doing what she told him to do.

Every person in the room went silent as Pit began to speak.

* * *

**Author note: Oh gosh...we're getting really close to the end here.**

**Next chapter is the last of the histories, but not the least. It's Cagemaster Illustria's history that's next.**

**Stuff you might want to know: I wrote this whole chapter listening to Ed Sheeran's song 'Give Me Love.' I find it just as heartbreaking as this chapter, that this fic is getting close to its end, and...I think it could relate to Illustria a bit. I don't know how yet exactly, but I can just feel it.**

**One more thing. Just thought I'd wish you guys a Happy Halloween, and hopefully I can get Illustria's history up soon. Thanks for all your patience!**


	26. History: Cagemaster Illustria

**_History: Cagemaster Illustria_**

The girl let out a shriek of terror as she ducked, an empty vase shattering above her head as it hit the wall.

"You fool!" The master roared at her. "Don't you dare sneak out of your room!"

"But-" The girl started to protest. "I didn't mean to-"

She was slapped in the face and thrown into the wall. The master turned away from her, walking out of the room. "Clean this mess up and go back to your room. NOW!" The master shouted, before walking away.

The girl immediately started to scoop up the pieces of the shattered vase, not caring if her fingers were cut from the shards. It was her fault this happened. She knew she should have went to the washroom before going to bed...

This scene would appear in similar forms in the future. And every night, after being punished by being kicked, tortured, punched, slapped or being pricked by a hot poker, she would go to sleep in her room, praying that some angel would come to her and get her out of this hell.

* * *

That angel came, eventually...but not in the way she expected.

The angel had no wings. The angel was a killer. The angel...well, it called itself the Devil.

And when the time was right, the Devil was the girl's saviour from her abusive masters.

The two traveled the world, and the Devil gave her a name: Illustria. Sure, the name was something random, something that came from the Devil's mind, but the girl/Illustria, liked it nonetheless.

* * *

Illustria remembered hearing about the fighting tournaments called the Super Smash Bros. Tournaments, and that the fighters in the tournament were called the Smashers. She remembered hearing of the Subspace Emissary; and that the Smashers were getting ready to defeat whoever was the mastermind of that chaos.

But she heard other things about these Smashers, too. They had killed, but for the wrong purposes. They had threatened humankind, sacrificed innocent people to achieve their goals, and even brought each other down at times with degrading words.

Insufferable beings. These Smashers were being praised as heroes! They shouldn't be. Their backgrounds were enough to be shamed for, let alone some of the Smashers' behaviours towards each other.

Illustria knew she had to find a way to infict punishment upon the Smashers. Of all those that had defiled those that were innocent, the Smashers just _had_ to be the worst.

Right?

* * *

Devil. Death. Hierophant. Sun. Strength. Magician.

The six members of the Arcane were finally chosen.

As the leader of the tournament, Cagemaser Illustria, she was sure that the seven of them altogether could surely bring down these Smashers once and for all. She movitated the Arcane, giving them reasons, however twisted they were, to fight.

"Think of your broken heart, and invoke your wrath at your loved one upon the Smashers."

"Think of those that abused you, those parents that never cared for you!"

"Think of that beast that you killed. Remember how you told me that the townspeople that were forming a mob against you said that they saw you as the beast? They're wrong. They are."

"Think of the love you had for humanity and the other creatures. Think of whoever could have set that fire in the woods and destroy them. For all we know, it could have been the Smashers themselves! ...Except for Kirby, that is. He probably wouldn't be bad enough to set fires, considering he has a decently clean reputation."

"Think of those masters that abused you like they abused me. Remember the feeling of freedom, and use it to your full advantage."

It was the most difficult to think of some sort of movitation for the Magician. She didn't know why...Perhaps it was because the Magician was so...Pure? Innocent? She was unsure at first of what to say, but then she thought of something.

"Think of the old masters you served. Think of those children. Think of those wonderful smiles that many gave you in return for your good deeds. Do it in remembrance of them. Think of your vows to help them whenever you fight, and think of the smile you gave to those that stoned you, those that hurt you. Do it for the one you love, too, for he fights the same battle as you."

* * *

The Smashers.

They finally arrived.

They fought. The first ones that fought...all of them died; the exceptions to this statement being Peach Toadstool and Pit Icarus.

Pit Icarus. The angel. His reputation was not as clean as Kirby's, but he wasn't as bad as Gannondorf, Bowser or Wario. From Illustria's observations, he seemed to be quite a nice guy. He tried his best to console Link when the two were just starting out in the tournament. He never pissed off any of the Arcane as of yet, and overall, he just seemed, well...full of innocence. Much more than Illustria, the Cagemaster was sure of that. She hated to admit it, but Pit seemed much less scarred than she ever was in the past, even as he witnessed deaths in the arena and was beaten up a few times by some of the Arcane in battle.

She upped his rank from B to A and offered him a movitation that could help him become a future Arcane fighter; provided that he was still alive by the time he was deemed ready to join.

She invited him to dinner.

Little by little, maybe, she thought to herself, maybe she liked him a little.

Maybe he was another angel, her light in the darkness of the tournament.

* * *

That vision completely shattered in the library incident. No more elaboration needed.

* * *

She realized her reign in the tournament was crumbling, no matter what precautions she tried to take. Hierophant and Magician were close to insane, Death had more emotional breakdowns, Strength and Sun were in stages of insecurity, and even the Devil seemed to want to not fight anymore.

She didn't know what to do anymore.

But she figured, if she was going to go down, it had to be with a bang, a grand finale to the story; even if it was a tragic one.

Even if she had to be killed by that one angel she had those warm feelings for, it would be an end to the story. No matter what else it seemed like.

* * *

"Illustria...I don't think you really wanted this tournament in the beginning, did you?" Pit spoke, looking down at the fallen Cagemaster.

Illustria shook her head a little, still coughing a bit. "Why is it only at the end of the stories that villains realize their mistakes?" She asked aloud. She let out a deep sigh, before coughing up more blood. "I don't think I wanted this in the beginning. All I wanted was to be free and do what I wanted to do for once, instead of being abused by those monsters that I called masters. I don't know..."

"Cagemaster?" Everyone turned to see the Devil approach, quietly. She looked downwards briefly, before looking at the Cagemaster and shouting, "What am I going to do!? I can't...you can't die on me! Otherwise I can't play the violin for you, or have tea with you or act as your loyal Devil! What should I do!? Don't...Are you going to...leave us?" Her voice almost went hoarse at the last sentence, before she broke into tears.

Illustria let out a sad chuckle, before coughing a bit. "I'm sorry, Devil. I'm sorry to all of you Arcane...and the Smashers. And you." She spoke, looking up at Pit. "I know I can never be forgiven for what I've done. Killing others for their bad deeds doesn't make me better than them. Not in the slightest...and Pit?"

"Yes?" Pit asked, looking at the dying Cagemaster.

She coughed a bit, before weakly whispering, "Promise me that you and all the rest of the Smashers do what you can to rebuild the tournament; make it what it was supposed to be. **_Promise me_**."

Pit bit his lip briefly, trying to restrain tears as he choked out, "I promise."

Illustria just smiled a bit, before her body faded away in his arms.

Everyone was silent, even if tears were streaming down their faces. No one knew what to do.

"Poyo?"

They turned to see Kirby, in the doorway of the great hall. Sun stood up, and ran to him. She picked up the puffball in her arms and started to cry.


	27. A New Story

**_27. A New Story_**

It was only an hour since Illustria was dead. All of the surviving fighters had gathered in the hall after much consolation and tears being shed, and the Magician put up a hand to silence the others. He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"The Hierophant and I have so much to explain. All of you...you had no idea of the Hierophant's actions and mine during our absence, and we apologize for not giving an explanation much earlier." The Magician paused before he continued. "The Cagemaster...I mean, Illustria...she knew that he and I were descending into our madness, our minds deteriorating into chaos. She threw us into the Devil's Den and forced us into the purest parts of our minds in hope to regain our sanity. It did work; but the thing was, we had no idea that we were going to wake up so early. We stole a vast majority of the histories from the library when no one was looking, and read through them to figure out why Illustria chose some of us to be her Arcane. This is only a theory, but I believe it's because all of us Arcane represented a part of her. From innocence, to grief, to broken hearts and wrath towards others. To her, all of the Arcane altogether was like another her. It might not make much sense to some of you; I understand that, but I know that Illustria...I mean, Cagemaster...she never wanted all of this to happen, she said it herself. And I pray that she is at peace; wherever she is. That's all I have to say. Thank you."

Everyone else was silent, and then the Hierophant ran to the Magician, the two grasping each other tightly and closely before locking lips with each other.

Link couldn't help but just smile a little as he watched the two lovers. For some reason, he felt that things just might be okay from now on, despite the heavy burdens of the deaths of Smashers and the Cagemaster.

It wasn't just those reasons that he felt a bit better.

He was no longer a caged bird of the twisted tournament. He was finally free, along with everyone else.

* * *

"What do we do now?" Falco spoke up. He sighed a bit, before continuing. "I still can't believe this twisted tournament is finally over...I can't believe it."

"It's hard for me to believe as well." The Devil responded, nodding with agreement. She also sighed. "It sucks. I'll never get to really play the violin for her again."

"I never even knew you played violin until I read your history! I've never heard you play..."

"I played only for the Cagemaster...I think that reason alone is self-explanatory for that question." She responded.

Falco paused before he spoke again. "Just because the Cagemaster is gone, doesn't mean you can't keep playing, right? I don't know how close you were to her, or how much passionate feelings you had towards her or anything, but just because Illustria's gone doesn't mean you can't keep playing. I think she would have wanted you to keep playing. Just because."

The Devil was silent, still for a moment. In her arms, appeared a black violin with matching bow.

She lifted the violin to her shoulders, and began to play as tears began to stream down her face.

* * *

Pit still sat by the place where he held the dying Cagemaster in her arms.

She liked him. He hadn't realized that...

He knew he had to do something about what everyone was supposed to do, now that the twisted tournament was finished. Illustria had told him what to do.

_Rebuild the tournament the way it was supposed to be._

He vowed he would rebuild it, for her sake.

* * *

"I thought I told you not to go out of that hiding place!" Sun told Kirby, still holding the puffball tightly. "You could have been hurt..."

"Poyo! Poyo poyo poyo!" Kirby responded, waving his stubby arms for emphasis.

Sun smiled sadly. "You wanted to help me. I'm sorry I go to such lengths to keep you safe, but...it's just that..." Sun had to pause for a moment, before she finished. "I just...can't let anyone scar you...for someone to be born out of dreams and just so pure as you, I just want to protect you from everything out there that would permanently hurt you. I'm...sorry."

"Poyo..."

* * *

A lone figure stood, the swirling cold causing her to wrap the rags she wore silently.

_I wasn't actually that weak enough to be killed. But I knew I just couldn't linger at that place any longer; I couldn't...I'm sorry, my children. I didn't mean to leave you like that._

She looked around quietly. No one else was there besides her. She looked up at the sky, tiny snowflakes

_I need so much time to collect my thoughts; to think about all of this. I feel so stupid to leave everyone and depart to this barren wasteland, but I know I will come back some time in the future; provided I don't freeze to death out here._

_All I can think of is that none of us are monsters. None of us meant to be. Not even those that I thought were truly monsters, not even me for starting that tournament. None of us are monsters, even if I want to imagine myself as one._

_I don't even think I'm human sometimes. I think it's because of all the crimes I myself comitted during and before the touranament. _

She let out a deep sigh, thinking of the Arcane, the Smashers, Pit... She knew she would struggle a bit with her thoughts, and possibly struggle even more the day she decided she would let herself go back to the Smashers and the Arcane.

_But...at the least, I can try to think of myself as **myself**, if not 'human,' 'anthromorph' or any other sort of creature out there._

* * *

**WARNING: SUPER LONG AUTHOR NOTE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

**Author note: ...Wow. Just...wow. **

**It's finally over. This fic. I'm kind of shocked, to say to the least.**

**First off, I want to thank ALL of you readers and reviewers, from the anonymous to those that have fanfiction accounts. You have been so supportive while I've been writing this fic, and I'm very thankful for that.**

**Second, this fic has a total of _75 reviews_ and _over 3700 views_ to date (or at _least_ since I last checked). That is...I'm overwhelmed. Thank you, all of you guys! I don't know how much more I can thank you...**

**Third...This is the fun facts section. Stuff that you might want to know about this fic.**

**1. Cagemaster Illustria's History has the most reviews out of all of the histories to date. It's also the chapter with the most reviews in the whole fic to date. **

**2. The hardest History to write, surprisingly, were both the Devil and the Smashers. Smashers; because it was so long and I struggled a bit with the battle scenes, and the Devil because, well, I was really trying to portray her relations towards the Cagemaster Illustria.**

**3. I noted from the reviews that quite a few people seemed to like the Magician an awful lot out of all of the OCs, and same for Illustria.**

**4. For those of you who do not look at my profile, I actually wrote three drafts before starting to publish this fic. I'm not kidding. I had this idea since 2010, and I was struggling with it. I'm glad the hard work finally paid off.**

**5. My hardest chapters to write were probably the Devil's History, as well as chapters 13 and 7.**

**Fourth...This is big news. No, there's probably not going to be a prequel, sadly (because I think it would highly difficult to smash all of the histories, excluding the Smashers, in high detail and put them into one fic). BUT...**

_**THERE'S GOING TO BE A SEQUEL! (insert crowd cheering noises here) :)**_

**Yes, you read this message correctly; there is going to be a sequel! Just because the twisted tournament is over, doesn't mean that our story about the Arcane and our surviving Smashers has drawn to a close. There's much more to tell, and I'm looking forward to writing the sequel, too. It's probably going to be published sometime in late November or December at the latest, because I need to work now on my new fic 'Rebirth' (which is for the TAF: Challenge Edition Thing). **

**Again, I thank all of you guys for reviewing and reading this fic, and I hope to see you all at the sequel later on! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. Thank you.**


End file.
